(CNS): The country’s premier has offered his public support to Bodden Town representative Dwayne Seymour, who has been charged in connection with a disturbance that occurred at the Grand Cayman Beach Suites earlier this year. The UDP backbench MLA will appear in court on 9 November to face charges of attempting to obstruct, prevent, pervert or defeat the course of justice. McKeeva Bush implied that the issue related to interference in Seymour’s marriage and, as a result, the government was behind him. "On behalf of the elected government, we wish to express publicly, our moral support for our backbench colleague Mr Dwayne Seymour during this difficult time,” Bush said in an official statement. (Photo Dennie Warren Jr)
Seymour was arrested long with two other men at the hotel in May, when Florida-based personal trainer Garrone Yap claimed he was assaulted by the MLA and one of his friends at the hotel. Yap, who was also arrested but released without any conditions, said he was not going to press charges against Seymour and his friend but accused the MLA of using his position as a politician to have him arrested.
On Tuesday afternoon the office of the premier’s press secretary issued the statement on behalf of government, which offered its moral support to Seymour, suggesting that the MLA was in the difficult position of trying to hold his family together in the face of outside interference.
“As a government and as Caymanians first and foremost, we understand the many challenges that must be faced, both internally and externally to build and to keep a family together, and as Caymanians we understand and empathize with the pain that is endured when someone, against God and against all social and ethical obligations, interferes with that sacrosanct relationship,” the statement from Bush read. “It is in the appreciation of the circumstance and of those considerations that we publicly voice today our continued support and confidence for our colleague and friend Mr Dwayne Seymour. "
Last week Seymour made a public statement saying that he was innocent and surprised by the charges He said he did not understand how what he called "baseless charges" could have been laid more than five months after the incident.
“I have no earthly idea where and how they (the charges) could have arisen over the last five and a half months. It seems that everyone knew I was being charged with some offence before I did,” he said in a prepared statement which he read on
Cayman 27 on Thursday evening. “All I can say at this point is that I do not know the persons involved and the charges made. I am also completely unaware of the circumstances being described in the charges.”
He added that he was still looking forward to serving the people of Bodden Town, “who elected me for the hope I bring to them,” Seymour stated.
The Premier should not interfere in any way whatsoever. Whether supporting or not supporting Mr. Seymour – it is a Police matter and none of his business whatsover.
The comments made by the Premier are ill advised at best. Once a decision to prosecute is taken, in the interests of both transparency and to protect the independancy of the judicial system, then ALL comment should cease.
There are elements of what Mr Bush said that are deeply disturbing but to comment on those would simply make worse the current situation.
I would urge the CNS to suspend comments and urge other news outlets to remember their responsibility with regard to matters that become sub judice.
CNS: To comment on the matter before the courts would be sub judice. To comment on whether the premier should comment on such matters, as you have done, is not.
CNS, a hearty "big up" to you on your clarification. That is probably just an embarrassed UDP supporter trying to bury yet another faux pas on the part of the Premier.
As I am sure the CNS will confirm, I have simply pointed this out (and in a subsequent comment to CNS) that they are walking a very narrow path between public comment and contempt of court. Indeed, my first comment does include criticism of the Premier which is hardly the work of a supporter.
No, you will find I am a friend of freedom of speech who only wishes to warn CNS of the potential dangers. If they choose to take these risks then so be it.
BTW: sitting as I do, several thousand miles away, I really don’t care about either political party. They say you get the politicians you deserve and nowhere is that more true, regrettably, than the Cayman Islands.
But, since it is the LA, can’t he say just about whatever he wants? And/or, is it not The Speaker’s duty to warn him if he is overstepping the boundaries?
CNS: The premier’s statement was made in a press release, not in the LA.
So sorry for posting-from-the-hip without properly reading the article. In that case, it is truly shocking.
CNS: I regret you are walking on very dodgy ground. The common definition of ‘Sub Judice’ says that comment should cease once a criminal case has become active and the charging of a person with an offence is one of the possible actsthat makes this case active.
I would respectfully suggest that the comments made by the Premier are wrong in law as they have the potential to pose "a substantial risk of serious prejudice" to the proceedings and, if we accept that his comments have this potential, then to report them isalso, potentially, a contempt of court.
The reason I raise these comments is to advise that for the Premier to make this statement it clealry has the potential to sway a juror in their judgement as to the defendent’s character and, consequently, how they view the evidence.
Therefore, if we accept that the Premier’s comments may pose a substantial risk of serious prejudice to proceedings, giving them visibility I suggest you are walking a dangerous path.
I’m sorry but……………..this is TOTALLY WRONG!!!
Why is he backing him , then shooting down the troubled kids on the street who really needs the help!!
Let him fight his own battles!!
XXXXXXXX
Is it just me or is it really strange that after all the CIG has already done in the last 6 years anyone on Cayman still finds it hard to belive that Caymanian leadership not moral, not smart, and not interested in anyone but themselves? Still hard for me to belive. Have they done anything that has benifited ALL the people of Grand Cayman? No right? Has anything they have done not beifited just themselves or their friends and family at expense of all others? And yet they are still the voice and face of the Caymanian people. What does that tell the world? Is this not truth?
How come there is no comment section under the Ossie story. Is it because he is PPM.
We the public liked CNS because there was no political bias. No we have noticed that even though Denny Warren Jr does great stories, ever since he started writing this has become a PPM paper, with UDP bashing going on or stories like the Dwayne Seymour gets comment, but you can comment on Ossie.
I must tell you that MOST people will get turn of if the media shows political bias. We the public was so happy when CNS came along. Because it was about news and you got to voice your opinion on every story except when the case was at trial. Not anymore.
The first thing I used to do every morning was to check CNS for the latest, to keep up with the going ons in cayman. Now I scan the headlines and read some stories.
Please do not think that I am a supporter of any party. I am an independent and always will be. I like to keep up with what is happening at home. But if the blatent political bias continues CNS is no different from the compass or net news. Which I stopped reading for the same thing.
I’ve spoken to others at home who say they no longer read CNS because it has become to political, and just a bunch of political croonies bashing each other.
We want a news media in the Cayman Islands to stay nuetral for once. CNS had that but now they lost that.
CNS please get back on track.
CNS: People see political bias where they want to. Firstly, Dennie takes pictures. He does not write any articles or part of any articles, nor does he influence them in any way. So the whole argument that his non-existent writing is slanted towards PPM is fantasy.
Our general rule is that we close the comment box when someone has been arrested so we don’t fall foul of sub judice rules. However, on occasion where there is another major issue to be discussed we leave the box open but I am careful not to post comments on the guilt or innocence of the person charged or about the incident in question – i.e. the reasons the box would normally be closed.
In this case, we didn’t leave the box open because it is UDP v. PPM but because the premier has issued a statement in support of a suspect facing charges for a serious crime. We think this qualifies as an issue that should be discussed and we think most reasonable people would agree.
We will continue to report the news as we think it should be reported, as we have always done, regardless of threats of any kind. It’s up to you whether you read it or not.
Uumph!!
Take dat!
LOL!
LOL!
I’ve received ONE thumbs down!!
Hmmm … I wonder who that was??
ROFLMBO!!
Aaaaww … my ‘tweet!
What a stupid & ignorant question, yes, TOTALLY IGNORANT! Have you never noticed that any story posted by CNS that involves the courts does NOT have a comment option? Are you that stupid, blind & ignorant? Grow the XXXX up! I suppose you would want to say that the court cases are a PPM thing also? How very STUPID!
gosh, you’re obviously a few sandwiches short of a picnic…
1. dennie warren is the photographer – if you haven’t figured that out yet, you’re IQ leaves a lot to desire…
2. CNS does not invent news – they report it. even if they wanted to invent the news, they would most likely not come up with anything as great as this…
3. if you cannot see that there’s something horribly wrong with the hypocracy of the UDP leadership, including this latest event, you ought to take remedial comprehension english courses – you may be able to read the news, but you obviously can’t decipher it…
4. this is one more step towards the banana republic that the cayman islands are becoming
You messing with Ossie now? Better be careful before he put the cow cod on you too…
UDP is a lawless government that’s the bottom line they know nothing about being democratic.. his speeches on NEws 27 yesterday were disgraceful is this the best Cayman has?! seriously?!
all of them udp need a beating with a cow cod cos they ain’t doing nothing to help the economy or crime !
From a man’s perspective I am guessing Dwayne is not very pleased about the particular and somewhat descriptive wording of Mac’s statement.
The least any man would ask for is to be allowed the respect and discretion to handle his personal and family affairs.
In any event – certain politicians are in no position to make such statements.
I for one know of certain long serving and prominent politicians having "things in common" with other much younger members of the public that said politician had no business, be it morally or legally, finding themselves therein concerned.
They say power is an aphrodisiac – that must certainly be the case because … wow!
In regards to the "God" comments – are we really surprised Cayman?! The quicker "God" is removed from our political arena the quicker we may see some actual and rational change in this country. (Relax Jesus freaks – try to see the bigger picture.)
and what do the Premier and the rest of the MLA’s have to say about the unbridled crime in this country? If you assist someone in breaking the law or getting away with having broken the law, what message are you sending? You cannot possibly know the whole truth about this matter. That is why we have courts and judges. I agree that Mr. Seymour is innocent until proven guilty according to our legal system. However, the Premier is not a judge and should keep out of this matter.
Now the criminals have started on the hotels. Do you really think tourists will keep coming here once this becomes more of a habit – and you know it will – because the criminals have the upper hand. Arm the Police – not all – but there are some good officers who can be trusted with a gun. Weed out the useless, illiterate officers and send them home. Replace them with more experienced police. No one can fight armed crime without a weapon and a brain. Stop spending our money and supporting immoral, illegal unethical behaviour and please remember, the same God that you call upon now is watching your every move. His Law applies to everyone including you. You may break, bend, curve the laws of this country to suit your own XXXX interests but you will answer to HIM eventually. Start helping your suffering people. Stop chasing business away, or is this part of your fairy tale plan to turn Cayman into a banana republic, become independent and be the King of Cayman forever and ever????
58 days to success is the proper countdown and this is the speech from Mr.Bush.
When will the "90 Days to Success" information be out.
Inquiry minds would like to know.
Here we have the premier supporting an elected member of government that spent a weekend in jail because of a well publicized fight, & who has subsequently been charged with a crime. That says an awful lot about the premier.
I wonder which will come first, the 90 says to success, or Mr. Manderson’s promise on the 25th of June that all board policies and procedures would soon be posted on gov.ky for the sake of FOI?
This makes me sick, our leaders demonstrate that they have no moral compass. Any reasonable person that is in a position of leadership when commenting on such a situation would say they would withold their views because the matter is before the courts.
It should be made known to the world that there are Caymanians like myself that want nothing to do with politicians that break the law. What if Mr Seymour is convicted, what we will have then is a government that says it is ok to break the law. Mr Reid for the life of me I cannot understand how as chairman of the UDP you can allow this sort of thing to happen. This type of nonsense makes me ashamed to be a Caymanian.
An obvious and pathetic attempt to interfere with an ongoing criminal case.
And to bring God into it! What does this man know about Christian values? Mac we judge you by your deeds not your words.
Who are we to judge? Vote for or against yes, judge no.
Now i know why where we are now, i am feeling very sorry for Cayman. A beautiful island, but going to the wrong direction. We need to wake up from our sleep and do something so that we can still save our beloved country.
Was the Silent walk just held this week? Ironic that the Premier is standing behind a man trying to keep his family together. Violence against women must end.
What a terrible example he is!
Who writes these things for Mac? Unbelievable. They should have a QUALIFIED PR person writing. This is so embarassing on so many levels.
It makes NO difference if the Premier had a qualified PR officer…he will say what he wants to say….and that is that! We need a qualified Premier – thats what we really need!!!!!!
Hear! Hear!
But then again, there is another thing no one can accuse the Premier of doing and that is "thinking before speaking" because if so Cayman would not have been subjected to his many unbelievable utterings since the May 2009 electionsand especially after getting the little more important soundng title of "Premier" (but which has less constitutional authority than the weight he throws around for the benefit of himself and the select others) – by the way, "Premier" really only means "Chief Minister" and not "Prime Minister" because Cayman is not an independent country like, say, Jamaica! Similarly, only a jackass would think "Premier" is the same as "President" of a federal republic like the United States of America!
Birds of a feather stick together. This is the leadership Caymanians have picked themselves.
So, Mac throws his weight behind a suspect and against the legal department and the police. And yet when someone is charged with murder he thinks they are automatically guilty and he is reluctant to give them legal aid. How about we just skip the justice system altogether and let Mac decide who is guilty and who is innocent. We could save tons of money.
Why is he only offering moral support?
Didn’t the Premier also vote all of the Legal Aid funds into his budget? LOL.
One banana, two banana, three banana, four……
Great stance against crime there Mac! Way to go especially in light of the march against violence yesterday!
We should be speaking out against domestic violence NO MATTER WHAT the reasons are. It’s never justified. XXXXX
And we continue to elect men with this mentality to public office – no wonder so little will EVER change!
I wish I could hear this kind of support when expatriate women who are married to Caymanian men get their behinds handed to them when they try to leave. I hope I could hear this when women are trying to leave loveless relationships and they are being counselled by pastors and other so-called relationship experts to stay and keep the family together.
I wish the Premier had kept his mouth shut on this issue. This is a matter in which there should be no public expression of support, whether moral or legal. Some men just do not know when it is over.
Where is all the moral support when women have to turn up at Family Court every Friday just to get maintenance from lazy men who do not support their children. Where is the moral support when children have no food to eat or end up in trouble and on drugs and there is no family there to support them. The only person who is there is the social worker who is trying her best.
Where is the moral support then? Give me a freaking break already.
Anonymous 18:10: You must understand that in days of old a tribe, or a village, was run by a chief and his warriors things such as equality of the sexes were unheard of. Women had their place… but only as chattel, and battles were fought amongst the male members for the right of possession. Here, in the 21st century, there appear to be some throw-backs to this time. And unfortunately the Premier seems to be one of those. With this statement we should be frightened that he not only sees himself being Head Chief governing by edict (real confusion) but the shaman as well (real scary) and he is about ten steps and a few centuries behind the rest of us.
Undercover ex—–pat cayman was never run by chief and warriors.
Wait a minute! I just re-read Mac’s statement.
Why in the world would he bring up something like that about "against God"!! How dare he. Knowing fully well that he is NOT in any position to talk CHRISTANITY! God will smite thee my friends…..
"Against God", I think he was referring to himself.
Astonishing. Rather than keep his nose out of ongoing criminal proceedings, Bush tries to interfere in the independence of the RCIPS, Legal Department and Judiciary.
Oh please!!! Yah know the clansman going to make this one "disappear" in court. Lost documents and so forth.
Anyways, Dwene is like Eugene, another seat to fill in for photo ops.
Eugene who???
As a government and as Caymanians first and foremost, we understand the many challenges that must be faced, both internally and externally to build and to keep a family together , and as Caymanians
WHAT ON EARTH HAS THIS GOT TO DO WITH BEING CAYMANIAN OR OTHERWISE UNLESS HE IS SUGGESTING THAT IT IS OK FOR CAYMANIANS TO USE THEIR INFLUENCE – IN BREACH OF THE ANTICORRUPTION LAW
we understand and empathize with the pain that is endured when someone, against God and against all social and ethical obligations, interferes with that sacrosanct relationship,”
WHY IS HE TAKING SIDES – HE IS EFFECTIVELY SAYING THAT WHATEVER THIS GUY YAP GOT HE DESERVED IT
the statement from Bush read. “It is in the appreciation of the circumstance and of those considerations that we publicly voice today our continued support and confidence for our colleague and friend Mr. Dwayne Seymour
SHOULDN’T THE HEAD OF STATE TAKE AN ENTIRELY NEUTRAL STANCE. OK TO SAY WE SUPPORT YOU AND GIVE YOUR OUR BEST WISHES BUT TO TAKE SIDES AND IMPLY THAT YAP WAS SOMEHOW TO BLAME IS IN MY VIEW WRONG.
I TAKE MY HATE OFF TO THE LEGAL DEPT WHO MUST HAVE TAKEN A DECISION ON THE EVIDENCE THAT THE CHARGING THRESHOLD WAS PASSED.
ISN’T THIS THE GUY WHO DIDNT FEEL THE NEED TO DECLARE HIS INTERESTS ON THE REGISTER OR IS IT A DIFFERNT ONE?
With all due respect who cares. Taking sides, protecting and supporting supporters, fellow MLA’s and votes when we have little issues like an armed gunman marching into the beach suites at 11:00pm when I used to be finishing my dinner there. I don’t see headlines about any concern about the crime wave that is growing to sunomi levels and I not not critizing CNS’s reporting, I am critizing the premier who is supposed to be giving us answers and solving problems. Or is he off island and not available.
It was Mark Scotland who didn’t claim interests
It was BOTH Mark Scotland and Dwayne Seymour!
John John you should not have allowed Mack to have anything to say in this affair. It will cause a rope to go around your neck. Fight your own domestic battle.
John John you still have three years left in the house before next election. If I was you, I would concentrate on your district and its needs. You do not have to continue supporting the UDP Bull Sh–it. Stand up for Bodden Town and visit your BoddenTown people. XXXXXXX
Actually, he has 2 years and 7 months left in his term.
WOW, this never gets old! Are they really all that stupid? So trying to keep your family together makes it all ok?
MacKeeva you’d do best by speaking for yourself and not on behalf of myself and other Caymanians who are more than aware.
Silly bunch of geezers, how far will you politicians go to riducule the laws and people of the Cayman Islands?
We are not all stupid and we did not all vote you in, unfortunately the ‘majority’ was easily ‘bought’ by your tricks.
God can help us but we also have to help ourselves and get rid of the vermin residing in the LA masking themselves as honest MEN!
PULEEEEAAAAASSSSSEEEEE!!!! pathetic @&!)#*$^!$%!%#!$@!&
Cutting thru the crap it seems ourbeloved leader is supporting a person who is charged with obstructed the police. Had Seymour been charged with murder one presumes our beloved leader would have acted in a similar fashion. Beam me up Scotty.
Remind me who would have come in third, or fouth, in the Bodden Town elections had Seymour and Scotland been successfully challenged?
The Cow cod of course would have came in 3rd or fourth.
So Mac has time to comment and defend Seymour? Where is he with comments about all the violent crime taking place?
Wha yu talkin bout???. There is no crime happening around here, not at far as the Government and Politicians are concerned.
Remember organized crime will only survive if it is tolerated by those who should work to prevent it.
The fact that our Politicians are mum on the subject and support those within that practice it really gives one food for thought.
Hope?????
what a bizarre and inappropriate statement……. but then again that is expected after every utterence by mckeeva bush……
Is it just me, or does anyone else think that when the Premier chooses to release a statement about a matter before the Courts, that he is trying to send a message to the Courts?
Who is giving advice to the Premier? Perhaps getting rid of those people would be the first step on the road to success that he has promised.
What Mac should be backing is FIGHTING CRIME! All of these robberies with guns is out of control! Quit wasting your time on ol fool fool Joke Joke!! He’s a big boy, let him fight his own battle! YOU AND THE GOVERNOR SHOULD BE DOING SOMETHING ABOUT ALL THESE HOOLIGANS TRYING TO GET SOMETHING FOR NOTHING!!!! You should be ASHAMED of yourself!!! Quit gallavanting around the globe and giving away the PEOPLES money to someone who won a gold medal. Good for her and all but COME ON. I thought we were sooooo broke! At the very least you should be in the paper making comments on our crime issues, NOT giving away OUR hard earned money!!
What about the SPECIAL OLYMPICS…? Where was the SPECIAL attention then????