From The Daily Herald St Maarten

NASSAU, Bahamas–They have been released from police custody, but two young singers who were detained over a controversial, expletive-laced song that had been making the rounds on social media may not be in the clear just yet.

Chief Superintendent Clayton Fernander says a police investigation is still ongoing.

Lawmen arrested the two men, whose names have not been released, last week Thursday. They were released the next day.

Disgusting, vile, malicious, despicable and shocking were some of the words used by Parliamentarians and members of the public to describe the song, which speaks disparagingly about Prime Minister Perry Christie and his family.

And even though the Grand Bahama Human Rights Association (GBHRA) condemned the song, particularly the disparaging references to women and those with special needs, it was adamant that police had no right to interfere in matters of freedom of expression. And it said those who may feel libelled or defamed have appropriate redress through the civil courts.

The group contended that seeking to charge the singers with criminal libel is “an anti-democratic and reactionary response which has absolutely no place in a modern society.”

“The lyrics of the song are indeed shocking, offensive and derogatory. However, that is not enough to justify interference with the right to freedom of expression, which is guaranteed by the Bahamas Constitution – much less deprive the singers of their liberty,” it said in a statement.

“Once again, we warn the authorities that the world is watching. The Commissioner of Police must ask himself what sort of country the Bahamas would like to portray itself as, to the international community.

“Do we really want to be classed among those dictatorships and authoritarian regimes that prosecute singers for their lyrics, writers for the words they use, or artists for the content of their work? Does the Royal Bahamas Police Force really want to be seen as ‘The Thought Police,’ who crack down on and punish those who exercise their constitutionally guaranteed freedoms?” the GBHRA asked.

The Association was particularly concerned that the singers were not detained in connection with a specific charge. It noted that a senior officer was quoted in the media, following the arrest, as saying that police were working with the Attorney General’s Office to determine “whatever offences this falls under.”

“This is a clear and blatant violation of due process, the presumption of innocence and the rule of law. The police cannot legally detain an individual in the Bahamas unless they suspect that person of having committing a specific offence. They cannot arrest first and determine suspicion after … This is not a dictatorship,” the group said.

The GBHRA therefore called on the government, and particularly Cabinet ministers Jerome Fitzgerald and Fred Mitchell, who have been vocal in defending their right to free speech in Parliament, to speak out in defence of the constitutional rights of ordinary citizens.

At the same time, it also urged Bahamians to speak out against the derogatory sentiments against certain groups in the song.

“It is appropriate for society to respond in outrage, for activists to speak out in condemnation, for all of us to react in disgust. When commonly held standards of decency and propriety are challenged in modern democratic societies, these must be reinforced by the tide of public opinion – not coerced through force and intimidation,” it insisted. ~ Caribbean360 ~

For more on this story go to: https://thedailyherald.sx/regional/59554-bahamian-singers-detained-over-lyrics