John Marquis, managing editor of The Tribune, has been granted a one-year work permit by the government, a decision hailed by his supporters as “a triumph for free speech and common sense.”
The controversial editor, who claimed he was being victimised for criticising the PLP when his permit was deferred, was given the green light after a Labour Department inquiry into The Tribune’s training arrangements established there was no Bahamian replacement for him at this time.
Last night, human rights activists and readers welcomed the decision as “a major victory for the cause of press freedom in this country.”
And lawyer Frederick Smith, president of the Grand Bahama Human Rights Association, said: “We all hope this will be the last time a work permit is used as a weapon of victimisation and intimidation.”
Mr Marquis, a professional journalist for 46 years, had to wait nearly nine months for his permit.
Media observers are convinced it was deferred because of a series of hard-hitting articles he wrote against the government earlier this year.
The government’s decision to grant the permit will come as a blow for Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell, who led the campaign against the editor. The former fredmitchelluncensored website waged a long but ultimately unsuccessful campaign to have him expelled from the country.
Mr Smith, the attorney, said: “Withholding a work permit in this way was a flexing of absolute political will. It had a pernicious and intimidating effect on free speech.
“The very fact that the permit was not immediately forthcoming was sending a threatening message to The Tribune and this should not have occurred.”
He added: “It would have been a sad day for the Bahamas if the eloquent prose and fiery stories of Mr Marquis had been silenced. He has brought the pages of The Tribune alive with his passionate pen and scrutinising eye.”
For Mr Marquis, a former award-winning investigative reporter and international sports writer, the decision was cause for a double celebration.
His book, Blood and Fire, launched in Nassau last Christmas, was this week declared a Caribbean bestseller only three weeks after it hit the Amazon Canada bestseller charts. His publisher, Mr Michael Henry, described it as a “phenomenal success” for a first book.
Mr Marquis said: “I’m glad to be able to continue working in the Bahamas and I thank all those who expressed their support. Words of encouragement came from many quarters, and from all sections of Bahamian society.
“I believe our readers recognise that press freedom is their freedom and that expulsion of a working journalist for telling the truth would have meant their constitution was meaningless.
“I hope this will serve as a watershed in the country’s history – the day when victimisation came to an end.”
Mr Marquis, whose weekly INSIGHT articles frequently confront highly controversial issues, has worked in the Bahamas for a total of 11 years.
He worked as a political reporter for both The Nassau Guardian and The Tribune for three years in the 1960s and returned as The Tribune’s managing editor in 1999, having spent nearly 30 years in editorial management in the UK.
An Abaco reader who rang to offer support shortly before the decision was known said: “Mr Marquis is the only editor I know who makes the news as much as he writes it. Life here would be very dull without him.”
Source: The Tribune
