Ministerial Statement by the Premier and Minister of Finance, The Hon. David Burt, JP, MP:
Mr. Speaker, who among us has not felt the sting of unwanted or even unwarranted media attention? With the choice of public service comes scrutiny and that can sometimes be uncomfortable. Very often we are aggrieved by what the media report and sometimes, what they don’t. In a democratic society, the media plays a critical role in ensuring accountability not just of public figures but also of any entity in authority.
Mr. Speaker, this responsibility to ‘speak truth to power’ is not one to be taken lightly and a society of thinkers, ordinary citizens, relies upon its media to sometimes be the conscience of a community. Reporting should be well sourced, balanced and courageous.
Mr. Speaker, the art of journalism is not always appreciated and more often than not we prefer to watch an exposé unfold rather than be the subject of one. However, Mr. Speaker, journalists have a job to do and where they do it, no matter uncomfortable it may be, their work should be respected and a truly democratic society cannot be said to prosecute, persecute or move to silence the media.
Mr. Speaker, the Bermuda of the 20th century did not honour these ideals and I wish to remind some and inform others of a regrettable chapter in our history which saw a journalist arrested, charged, tried, convicted, fined and imprisoned for simply reporting the truth.
Mr. Speaker, Rev. Charles Vinton Monk was an American pastor in the African Methodist Episcopal Church assigned to pastor Allen Temple AME Church in Somerset. During his tenure, he witnessed harsh and terrible conditions imposed on Jamaican workers brought to Bermuda to work in the construction of the Royal Naval Dockyard.
In keeping with the doctrine of the AME Church and its commitment to social justice. Rev. Monk took to writing about these conditions and exposed the company responsible for them in the hope that this would bring about a change to the benefit of the workers. Instead of accepting the truth of the obvious state of the workforce, the rampant disease and dangerous working conditions at the site, the principals of the company saw to it that Monk was arrested and charged with criminal libel.
Mr. Speaker, the activism of Rev. Monk in Bermuda and the subsequent trial is captured in detail in the book “Freedom Fighters: From Monk to Mazumbo” by the late Ira Philip.
Mr. Speaker, a review of the case indicates that the whole affair was laced with shocking bias. Rev. Monk was unrepresented by counsel, his King’s Counsel Mr. Henry Spencer-Joseph having died the day before the original trial date amid speculation of him having been poisoned. Mr. Speaker, the trial judge, Sir Brownlow Gray, was the father of the prosecutor, the Hon. Reginald Gray, then the Attorney General; and he was assisted on the bench by a first cousin the Hon. R.D. Darrell.
Mr. Speaker, the Crown called two witnesses while Rev. Monk called over one hundred witnesses in defence, who testified to the very conditions reported in Monk’s article and which were the subject of the criminal complaint. Mr. Speaker, the accepted history of Bermuda makes it highly unlikely that Rev. Monk could have been tried by a jury of his peers; and while I am not a learned Honourable Member, even I can appreciate that the eventual verdict of guilty was clearly against the weight of the evidence in the case.
Mr. Speaker, I have brought these facts to the attention of this Honourable House and the public because it is high time that this historic wrong is made right.
Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to advise this Honourable House that with the approval of the Cabinet, and in concert with the AME Church in Bermuda, pursuant to Section 22(1) of the Constitution, I have formally invited His Excellency the Governor to consult the Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of mercy with a view to granting a full and free posthumous pardon to Rev. Charles Vinton Monk.
Mr. Speaker, some may say “why this and why now?”. To that, there is a simple answer, Mr. Speaker: “It is never too late to do the right thing”.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.