BRIDGETOWN, Barbados– Former deputy speaker of the Barbados Parliament and government legislator Neil Rowe will re-appear in a magistrate’s court on January 30 next year, after he appeared in court Monday on a charge of rape.
Rowe was not required to enter a plea to the indictable charge when he appeared before Magistrate Deidre McKenna in the Oistins Magistrate’s Court.
Rowe, alleged to have committed the offense on September 18, was granted BDS$10,000 (One BDS$=US$0.50 cents) bail after the prosecution did not object to his bail.
King Counsel Roger Forde, one of two layers representing Rowe, told reporters after the court hearing that he had grave concerns about information regarding the case, which had been placed in the public domain via social media.
He said such leaking of information, some of allegedly from the contents of a police station diary, could prejudice the position of any females in Barbados who wanted to make reports to the Barbados Police Service.
“It’s not fair to women in Barbados,” Forde told the court.
Prime Minister Mia Mottley says she has “every confidence in the independence and the integrity of the Barbados Police Force” after the member of the ruling Barbados Labour Party (BLP) was detained by police over the last weekend.
“It is not our place to intervene in the justice process, but rather to secure the integrity of the critical institutions that preserve the rights of the individual in this country. And to ensure law, order and indeed good governance in Barbados.”
Mottley said that the situation is not easy for the persons involved, saying, “but as a responsible political party, we must acknowledge the rights of each of them.
Earlier, Mottley had indicated that the Member of Parliament for St. Thomas, Cynthia Forde, will be nominated for the position of Deputy Speaker in the House of Assembly on Tuesday, replacing Rowe.
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