Lawyers ask court to throw out case

ROSEAU (CMC):

Lawyers representing Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit and Education Minister Petter St Jean have asked a High Court to throw out new witnesses statements that were filed a week before the trial opened here on Monday.

The main opposition United Workers Party (UWP) wants the Court to declare that both Skerrit and St Jean were illegally nominated to contest the December 2009 general election because they held dual citizenship at the time.

The subpoenas filed by the opposition party are intended to force the prime minister and his senior cabinet colleague to give evidence in court but, their attorney, Queen Counsel Anthony Astaphan told Justice Gertel Thom that the subpoenas were a "naked fishing expedition".

He argued that the petitioners are bound by the petitions and should not seek assistance from either Skerrit or St Jean, and referred to the subpoenas as an abuse of the process.

Astaphan told the court the 13 new statements were improper, an abuse of the process and should not be allowed.

"I don't think that is acceptable at all," Astaphan said, arguing further that the deputy registrar who signed the subpoenas had no jurisdiction to do so in an election court.

He said there is nothing in the Act that authorises the court to compel his clients to give evidence and that nothing that were filed by the petitioners showed evidence that the prime minister or St Jean travelled on a French passport.

He told the court that the 13 new statements were filed by the petitioners on August 30, way beyond the time in which they could have taken such action.