PM calls Faithful Nationals protest ‘misguided’

The Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne said Thursday’s protest by the civic coalition, The Faithful Nationals, was “misguided.”
The Faithful Nationals staged their moving protest outside the ministries of Tourism, Education, and Legal Affairs to register
their dissatisfaction with what they described as the multiple controversies
surrounding the Government of Antigua and Barbuda.
Among the issues were the early release and subsequent recall of prisoners on the orders of the Attorney General, Steadroy “Cutie” Benjamin.
But Browne said as far as the government is concerned this matter has already been addressed.
“My understanding is that there was a revocation that took place and the Attorney General would have reconsidered [his] position,” he said.
The Cabinet issued a statement calling the release of the convicted sexual offenders and killers an error in the procedure.
Meantime the Chief of Staff, Lionel Max Hurst, called the protest “noise.”
“We know that the noise has come primarily from the United Progressive Party and its cohorts and we believe, like every person in Antigua and Barbuda, the decision rendered within the time frame permitted under the law for [revocation] by the Attorney General was lawful,” Hurst said.
The notes from the Cabinet claimed that the withdrawal letters revoking the initial warrants authorizing the prisoners’ release were not acted upon prior to the releases due to delayed delivery.