HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC – Former premier Dr. Ewart Brown says he had been targetted while in office because he was a “black man who tries to stand with a straight spine” and was also despised by the “white establishment” because he stood up for the principles of the Progressive Liberal party (PLP) party while in government in this British Overseas Territory.
Brown testified before Acting Puisne Judge Martin Forde in his civil lawsuit against the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Attorney-General, and the Deputy Governor, claiming that an inquiry into allegations against him was unconstitutional.
His attorneys have argued that the creation of the Strategic Oversight Group, established in February 2014 to oversee the inquiry, breached laws around the abuse of power through the inclusion of Ginny Ferson and Rory Field, the Deputy Governor and the Director of Public Prosecutions at the time, as members.
Brown, who served as premier between 2006 and 2010, told his attorney Jerome Lynch, KC, during Tuesday’s court hearing that he had always been on the radar of the establishment and political opponents.
“Any leader of the Progressive Labour Party who stood up for the principles of the PLP was despised. They identified me early on in my political career as someone who would be outspoken on issues of race. It was clear that I was going to be targeted from Day one,” he told the court, which is continuing proceedings on Wednesday.
“I felt that I would be targeted until I die because of my views, especially my views on race. I believe it, and I know it, and I feel it. I am being targeted because I am a Black man who tries to stand with a straight spine. I speak out when I see injustice, which is not allowed in Bermuda.”
Brown told the court that he believed that the move to launch an investigation began after his 2009 decision to bring four Uighurs to Bermuda from the United States prison camp at Guantánamo Bay at the request of President Barack Obama.
He described his relationship with the then Governor, Richard Gozney, as initially cordial, noting that the “relationship deteriorated (and that) he was under considerable pressure from ‘concerned Bermudians’ who wrote a letter saying why I was unfit to be premier.
“The relationship with the Governor got worse. Various White groups pressured him to do something about me because they said I was out of control.
“I regarded it as consistent with their mission to colonize the country with racist means,” Brown said, adding that he was also targeted by Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office “for political reasons.”
He recalled a meeting in London with Britain’s Minister for Overseas Territories, Chris Bryant, shortly after the Uighur incident.
“We went into the meeting room, and he began wagging his finger at me as if I was less than a man. I turned my back to him. He was talking to me as if I was a little boy,” Brown said, describing Bryant’s behavior as “disdainful and disrespectful.”
The investigation into the former premier was initiated in 2011 after allegations surfaced during a trial. Brown told the court on Tuesday, “As a result of that allegation, my relationship with the Governor got worse in that I had no further contact with him.
“I felt that the Governor had finally found something to investigate me after nibbling around the edges. It came totally out of left field.”
Brown said that he had told Gozney and his predecessor, Sir John Vereker, that their relationship was “unnatural.
“They were here to ensure further colonization, and I was opposed to that, so we were moving in different directions.”
Asked why Whitehall wanted to strengthen its control over Bermuda, the former premier replied, “Their interest is political and economic. The British Empire has never died. They want to have control.”
During his court appearance, Brown said that “the Black population embraces independence in their hearts, but when asked, they are not for it because they have been taught that it is not in their interest. That is the success of colonization”.
Brown also said that the One Bermuda Alliance, which held office between 2012 and 2017, also persecuted him, pointing an accusing finger at the attorney general, Trevor Moniz, as “leading the charge.”
“He knew that, and I would take him on. We were known to be political opposites,” Brown said, adding that the OBA deliberately tried to ruin his medical practice after imposing price caps on MRI scans.
“Their last piece of legislation they passed slashed the fees of the medical clinic by 83 percent — it was going to cripple the business,” he said, adding that he regarded a police raid of his office in 2017 “as another piece of the war against me, and they were coming from all angles to get me.
“They were out to get me because of my affiliations and views, which were consistent with the principles of the PLP. They didn’t like the fact that I espoused counter-racist views.”
Under cross-examination, Brown agreed that no one should be exempt from a police investigation because of their position in public life.
He also acknowledged that politics colored all aspects of his life and that his worldview was seen through the lens of a racist society.
Attorney Elizabeth Christopher said that the Strategic Oversight Group was set up by Moniz’s predecessor, Mark Pettingill, who subsequently represented many of Brown’s patients in a lawsuit relating to the police raid on his clinic.
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