Leading seaman Harvey Darville appeared on Tuesday before Magistrate Guillimina Archer, who read charges from a fiat or order from the Attorney General. Darville was charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit bribery and one count of bribery.
It is alleged that Darville, who was reportedly fired from the force last week, offered $5,900 to convince a public servant to release the detainee, who was not named.
But there was some confusion during the arraignment as the magistrate pointed out that the charges listed in the fiat were inconsistent with the charges on the court docket.
She then ordered a police prosecutor to get clarification from the AG’s office and have the matter sorted out.
The magistrate ordered Darville to return to her court on June 26 to proceed with the matter. Until then, Darville will be held in police custody.
It was not revealed in court which detainee Darville was allegedly trying to get released, but concerns about Defence Force officers accepting bribes have long been expressed by immigration authorities, and other government officials.
Authorities have also vowed to target any immigration officer who may be involved in the practice.
When two Cuban women cut their way out of the Detention Centre last month, a senior immigration official said police were investigating reports that a Defence Force officer (or officers) guarding the facility may have been paid to get the women out.
But there were no further reports regarding whether that was ever confirmed.
Earlier in the year, three Cuban men also reportedly cut through three fences at the facility to escape. None of them was ever apprehended again, although immigration officials received reports that they were spotted in Florida on the same day that they escaped.
Immigration Minister Shane Gibson has said that the government will take a zero tolerance approach to the illegal immigration situation, and has vowed to prosecute anyone found guilty of abusing the laws in this regard, including those who accept bribes to help illegal immigrants.
As officials continue to address bribery concerns at the facility, they also continue to promise to improve operations at the facility and upgrade security.
In a related matter, immigration authorities reported on Tuesday that they apprehended 25 undocumented Haitian migrants (20 males and five females) in the Freeport area on Monday night.
They were scheduled to be transported to the capital and taken to the Detention Centre.
Officials also plan to repatriate 89 undocumented Haitian nationals now at the centre to their homeland today. The Haitians will be transported on a Bahamasair flight which is scheduled to stop in Inagua to collect another 25 Haitians to take back to Haiti.
The flight is expected to cost taxpayers $25,000.
According to Minister Gibson, 16,412 illegal immigrants were repatriated between January 2003 and May 2006.
By: Stephen Gay, The Bahama Journal
