SKNLP 'not contemplating' Denzil Douglas trial loss

The opposition party in St Kitts and Nevis has told reporters that they are not concerned over their leader heading to court in September.

Denzil Douglas is set to go on trial in the diplomatic passport case brought by the government, which could result in his disqualification from sitting in the National Assembly as an elected representative. But his St. Kitts Nevis Labour Party colleagues say they are not worried.

At a press conference, WINN FM asked Chairman of the Labour Party Marcella Liburd if the party had a plan B with regard leadership and a candidate if the court ruled against Douglas.

“Frankly we’re not contemplating that, so we’re certainly not contemplating that, we certainly believe that we have a very strong case before the court and we’re very happy with the judgment of Justice Ward this week which outs it one step further in the sense of saying that we believe that once the evidence from Dominica is introduced it will be clear that the government really has no case," she said.

Liburd maintained the party’s stance that the government’s case was nothing more than a political distraction.

“And we know that that this case is really a distraction and in an effort was harass Dr Douglas, who we were told all throughout the elections that they had all this evidence that he was going to be in jail, that the FBI was coming and everybody was coming to put him in the blue suit over there and three and a half years later they couldn’t find that and so they’ve come up with this passport case.

"We know it’s just a distraction, we think we have a very strong case and we’re not even contemplating that.”

On Monday the parties were back in court for Justice Trevor Ward QC’s decision on Douglas’ application to adduce expert evidence on Dominican law.

The Government’s legal team, led by Douglas Mendes SC submitted that the court is competent to pronounce upon the relevant law of Dominica and therefore expert evidence was unnecessary and inadmissible.

Justice Ward QC ruled the court is satisfied that when sitting as the High Court in St Kitts, Dominican law is a question of fact to be proved by expert evidence, and therefore granted leave to the defendant, Douglas, to introduce expert evidence on the law of Dominica.

He ruled that the government could apply to call its own expert.

If the claimant, the attorney general files such an application, it will be heard on 24 September.

The attorney general’s case is that when Douglas was issued a diplomatic passport of Dominica in July of 2015 listing him as a national of that country, he swore an allegiance to a foreign power and became disqualified from being elected as a member of the National Assembly.