Attorney Wayne Munroe will this morning seek an injunction from a Supreme Court judge on behalf of a group of web shop owners to block the shutdown of their industry. Last night, Prime Minister Perry Christie announced that all web shops must immediately stop gaming operations. Plans by the web shop bosses to take legal action came hours before that announcement, however. Munroe told The Nassau Guardian he is seeking "an injunction application for a period either until the matter is finished or until Friday or Monday to permit us to file fuller documents".
He is substantively seeking "a declaration that what our clients are doing is not illegal because it is not regulated by the Lotteries and Gaming Act and also an order restraining the police from interfering with them in the conduct of their legitimate business". The move comes after voters on Monday overwhelmingly voted no to the regulation and taxation of web shops, and the establishment of a national lottery. Munroe said last night he will ask the court to allow the status quo to remain until a determination is made on the substantive matters.
Asked how significant the action is, he said, "I would think very. You had the government quite frankly state a very clear question; the no campaign recharacterized it as 'legalization' when you had no superior court of record having declared the behavior illegal." Munroe is scheduled to appear before Senior Justice Jon Isaacs at 9 a.m. He told The Nassau Guardian he is representing Pete Deveaux of Island Game, Adrian Fox and Sebas Bastian of Island Luck, Craig Flowers of FML Group of Companies and also the principals of Asue Draw. Bastian confirmed that his establishments will be closed today. "I am a law-abiding citizen," he told The Nassau Guardian last night.
"The government of my land says to close, so I will close pending the outcome of the court matter." Bastian said he will await further direction from Munroe. Not long before the prime minister's announcement yesterday evening, Flowers said his 14 web shops were open as he was still awaiting word from Christie on how the government intends to proceed following the failed gambling referendum. Flowers told The Nassau Guardian last week he would immediately close his shops if there was a no vote and the prime minister gave the directive for a shutdown. "If we get a directive from the government we will certainly close," Flowers repeated yesterday prior to the prime minister's announcement. "All of the stores are open.
I would have spoken to my employees. They were all concerned; they are only interested in the way forward." It was unclear last night whether Flowers' shops would close today. In his statement last night, Christie said, "While web shop owners and operators must cease and desist from gaming operations immediately, they are not required to close the door on their employees and those persons with whom they have lawful commercial relationships. "This includes relationships with landlords throughout the country, as well as relationships with utility and service companies, suppliers of goods, and other third-party creditors.
"The government expects that all web shop owners and operators will cooperate in giving effect to what I have just outlined so as to thereby eliminate the need for the relevant law enforcement authorities to take coercive action to compel the necessary result." Christie has previously said around 3,000 people are reportedly employed at web shops. His move to shut down web shop gambling is in keeping with a commitment he made months ago to take action if voters voted no in the referendum. According to unofficial results provided by the Parliamentary Registration Department yesterday, voter turnout was around 45 percent.
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