Fitzgerald: I acted legally

Wed, Aug 3rd 2016, 11:15 AM

Marathon MP Jerome Fitzgerald insisted yesterday that he acted within the law when he obtained the emails of Save The Bays (STB) members, which he then read in the House of Assembly.
Fitzgerald spoke to reporters not long after Supreme Court Justice Indra Charles ruled that he breached the privacy rights of STB members, and ordered him to pay $150,000 in damages.
"I refute that wholeheartedly," he told reporters outside Cabinet, referring to any suggestion that he acted outside the law.
"I have from day one."
Fitzgerald said he had not yet seen the ruling.
"I have not had an opportunity to review it yet nor has the government's attorneys," he said after coming out of a Cabinet meeting.
"I made it quite clear that I never obtained anything illegally at all and so the burden is on those who brought the claim to show it, and so I will be reading the judgment to see where in there they were able to establish that I obtained information illegally.
"I am under no obligation to say how I got the information. The burden is on them to show that I obtained it as they claim, illegally."
Charles granted a permanent injunction prohibiting the MP from disclosing or publishing any private information belonging to STB without its consent and ordered that Fitzgerald destroy all material within 14 days.
Asked if he had any other documents he wished to release on the organization, Fitzgerald said "no".
"I think at the end of the day, I have made my point clear that I have said what I have to say. It's before the House and we will see where it goes for there," Fitzgerald said.
The applicants in the matter were the Coalition to Protect Clifton Bay (Save The Bays)? Zachary Bacon, the brother of hedge fund billionaire Louis Bacon, a resident of Lyford Cay, and STB director of legal affairs Fred Smith and lawyer Ferron Bethell.
Attorney Loren Klein, who represents the respondents, including the Office of the Attorney General, intends to appeal the decision.
The appeal will result in a stay of Charles' destruction order.
Outside of court, Smith expressed confidence that the Court of Appeal will uphold the ruling.
Fitzgerald said he had a special interest in finding out what led the court to its final ruling.
"At the end of the day, I would be curious to see on what basis the court ruled that I obtained information illegally," he said.
The minister said he found it interesting that the group spent so much money in its attempt to silence him.
"It's just interesting, as I said, that an environmental group would spend the kind of money and time they have to keep me quiet, but obviously they didn't get costs in this case. The judge didn't give them costs," Fitzgerald said.
"And I know they had to pay their lawyers close to $1 million in order to bring this case to where it is. And so, they spent a lot of time and money to try to keep me quiet, and so let's see where it goes."

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian

 Sponsored Ads