Politics
Grenada promises to change controversial electronics crime bill
The Grenada government Friday said it would make adjustments to the Electronics Crime Bill after it was criticized by the island’s media organization and the Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI) for quietly allowing the legislation to become law despite government promises of reform.
“The government of Grenada, and especially Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell remain committed to making the adjustments to the Electronics Crime Bill that will eliminate any clauses that appear to infringe on the concept of a free media, or that seeks to criminalize libel,” said Hamlet Mark, Senior Adviser on Information to the Prime Minister.
“We had hoped that the amendment would have been before the parliament at the last sitting, but it was not included on the Order Paper because of administrative delays at the legal department.
“Given the latest developments, the Prime Minister has again instructed that the preparations are completed and that all concerned ensure that the matter will be on the agenda for the next sitting of parliament.”
The Media Workers Association of Grenada (MWAG) had said it was concerned that the government had not removed an offending clause from the bill that could severely undermine free expression, and infringe on the rights of Grenadians and journalists in particular.
In a release on Thursday, MWAG stated that “it will not stand for anything short of the total deletion of Clause 6 of the Electronics Crime Bill 2013, now Electronics Crime Act, and a revision of other offending clauses.”
According to MWAG, Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell in a telephone discussion with the President of MWAG, Shere-Ann Noel, had indicated he had instructed the Attorney General, Cajeton Hood, to remove the clause on July 2nd, 2013 and again on September 25th, 2013.
IPI, which together with the regional media group, the Association of Caribbean Media Workers (ACM), has been campaigning to get regional governments to remove criminal libel from the law books, said that the Mitchell government had in September last year given an undertaking to deal with concerns about the Electronic Crimes Bill.
