By Kisean Joseph
Former minister of government and Ambassador at Large, Dean Jonas, has taken legal action against the Commissioner of Police, a police corporal, and the Attorney General’s Office, seeking redress for his February 2023 arrest which he claimed was unlawful and violated his constitutional rights.
The lawsuit stems from an incident where police officers, led by Corporal Jason Joseph, entered Jonas’ property and arrested him during a custody dispute, allegedly without proper authorisation from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Jonas’ attorney Wendel Alexander detailed the series of events that led to the controversial arrest.
“Mr Jonas did not invite them into his premises. They came, they drove onto Mr Jonas’s premises without his consent and they didn’t have a warrant to do so. He told them to leave; they refused,” Alexander explained.
The situation escalated beyond the initial arrest, according to Alexander, who alleges that officers not only used excessive force but also took to social media to mock his client.
“They assaulted him and beat him. They went on social media and they posted the video of what transpired in his yard under the caption, ‘Look at the political idiot’,” Alexander said, pointing out that such behaviour demonstrated clear malice on the part of law enforcement.
The legal controversy deepened when it emerged that proper procedures weren’t followed in filing charges against Jonas.
“This was illegal, and the High Court Justice had made that ruling in another related case,” Alexander noted.
The charges, which were filed without Jonas’ knowledge, were ultimately dismissed in September 2024 after a magistrate deemed them improper.
Alexander revealed that attempts to resolve the matter through official channels were met with silence. He said that while private citizens have a right not to reply to requests, public officials have different obligations.
“I wrote to the Commissioner of Police, asking [him to] offer a public apology for the actions that they took against Ambassador Jonas, which was unlawful,” he said.
“If I get a response, it’s yesterday, but the Commissioner of Police seemed hell-bent not to respond to people’s correspondence,” Alexander noted.
The attorney expressed strong confidence in the merit of the lawsuit, stating emphatically that “the only reason if he doesn’t succeed is if there is not a God above … because I can’t see the police have any reason for the action.”
Jonas is seeking damages for physical injuries sustained during the arrest, violation of his constitutional rights, and the public embarrassment he endured. The lawsuit also requests punitive damages as a deterrent against similar police conduct in the future.
