Pressing Freedom........

Who granted the warrant that was used by the police to storm the Newsday's Offices, and on what criteria did he/she rely to circumvent the freedom the Constitution guarantees the press? Who was the architect of this excursion into such a questionable and heavy handed exercise and who in authority granted them leave or permission to pursue it? The nation is in shock at what took place and, were it not in the middle of the distracting and busy Carnival season, may well have ground to a halt until some very serious questions were answered as to the freedoms that we all take for granted. The fact of the matter is we do not need multi million dollar foreign policing advice if all we do is tear up the Constitution and I daresay we may have arrived at a place of no return for Commissioner Gibbs and Assistant Commissioner Ewatski. Damned if they knew and further damned if they didn't, I can see no way forward for either of them that does not first involve the tendering of their resignations.

Ostensibly being justified to protect the internal workings of the Integrity Commission, looked at strictly from that point of view, the non disclosure and secrecy that certain public institutions such as the Integrity Commission rely on should in no way be used to hoodwink or deceive the population. Oaths of confidentiality should never be allowed to trump the greater good as they end up either being a law onto themselves or worse, working against the nation's best interest. Take the issue of CLICO/CL Financial as a recent example, which was allowed to threaten the entire region's economy all because those in oversight and supervisory positions who knew of the coming collapse years in advance were not allowed to blow the whistle, much to this country's regret. When former Attorney General Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj gave the nation a heads up in 2002 there were many who wanted to use the opportunity to expose the abuses taking place since then and, had they done so, the cost to us all would have been far, far less.

In Europe during the Middle Ages it was felt that there were three estates or classes — the nobility, the clergy, and the common people. The press didn’t really fit into any of the existing classes and so in the 1800s the term “fourth estate” came into use as a short-hand expression for journalists.
Today government has replaced the nobility and the press has become the “media.” Still the concept of the “fourth estate” applies: The media is separate and apart from the rest of us for a reason. John Stuart Mill approached the problem of authority versus liberty from the viewpoint of a 19th century utilitarian: The individual has the right of expressing himself so long as he does not harm other individuals. The good society is one in which the greatest number of persons enjoy the greatest possible amount of happiness. Applying these general principles of liberty to freedom of expression, Mill states that if we silence an opinion, we may silence the truth. The individual freedom of expression is therefore essential to the well-being of society.

Back on point, the nation needs a resolution to this matter in quick time that tells all and sundry just how seriously we take our democracy. There is an old Afghan saying -  “That which is obvious does not need to be explained.” The abuses we allow, regardless of how small or temporarily justified could have the cumulative effect of changing where we stand now and what we stand for in the future. Reporters without Borders 2011-2012 Press Freedom Index ranked T&T tied for fifty first with Latvia, but just ahead of Haiti out of one hundred and seventy nine countries. Surprisingly Canada came in tenth, which indicates that at the very least our Commissioner and his assistant knows better.

There is a slippery slope here and like it or not we're on it. Trinidad & Tobago is a Republic governed by law and for that to remain so the ends must never be allowed to justify the means where the means contradicts that basic truth. Respect for the Constitution and the rule of law must not be open to negotiation, no matter what.