St. Kitts and Nevis High Court Judge Assigned to Hear UWP’s Petition
Professor Eddy Ventose, the resident High Court judge in St. Kitts and Nevis, has been assigned to hear the UWP’s 2019 election petition against the ruling DLP government in Dominica. It became necessary to find another judge to hear the election petition after Dominica High Court Judge Bernie Stephenson recused herself from the case.
Dominica-born Justice Wynante Adrien-Robert would have been next in line to hear the case, but Attorney-General Levi Peter opposed this move by writing to the Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court to have an independent judge assigned to the case.
The UWP is contending that the December 6, 2019 general election was marred by electoral fraud and rigged, and asks that the election results in 10 constituencies be nullified. The constituencies are St. Joseph, Mahaut, Morne Jaune, La Plaine, Castle Bruce, Salybia, Roseau Valley, Roseau Central, Roseau South and Wesley.
Under Justice Eddy Ventose, a preliminary hearing was held via Zoom video conferencing and lawyers representing UWP and DLP as well as other parties to the case argued their position. Ventose weighed the arguments and decided that the case is valid on June 18 and 19.
Meanwhile, the court allowed the lawyer for DBS Radio, Steven Isidore, to file an application requesting that the case against the broadcasting station be struck off. The hearing is however adjourned to July 7, 2020 to enable petitioners against the media house to respond to the application.
This article is copyright © 2020 DOM767
