Shermaine Joseph-Barnwell, a teacher who was dragged from a government building on the Caribbean Island of St. Vincent on Monday, is urging the prime minister to address enquiries related to her arrest and asserts her willingness to disclose information pertaining to government corruption, particularly within the Ministry of Education.
On Monday, a Facebook video showed that male police officers subjected Joseph-Barnwell to awful treatment as she sought to resign. Joseph-Barnwell asserted on Boom FM 106.9 on Tuesday that she experienced additional degrading treatment during her detention following her arrest. She was released without any formal charges on Monday evening.
Joseph-Barnwell asserts that, as a prominent voice opposing corruption, she has become a target.
“At this point, I know that I am being targeted for speaking truth to power. My arrest was not only an injustice, but I guess it is supposed to be a cautionary tale against those who wish to speak the truth. This is a larger scheme to undermine any credibility that will reveal the corruption.”
On Wednesday, in a Facebook video, Joseph-Barnwell called on Gonsalves, the Minister of National Security, to give answers to the following:
“I demand that the Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines make a public statement regarding my arrest. Specifically, I request that he divulge the following information in this address. The name of the person who made the report of the alleged disturbance that led to my arrest. The nature of the alleged disturbance. The reason why the Criminal Investigative Department was involved in this alleged disturbance and not the auxiliary officers assigned to the ministerial building. And the person who will be charged for the criminal offence of knowingly providing law enforcement with false information about a crime that did not occur, or misrepresenting any facts to deceive or obstruct justice, to my detriment.”
On Wednesday, Joseph-Barnwell articulated that senior government officials have been disseminating a narrative suggesting that her mental health was compromised. She expressed her belief that the presence of CID officers on Monday was intended to substantiate that narrative.
“I am of the firm opinion that those officers were there to drag me to the mental institution where I would have been medicated, institutionalised, and labelled as crazy so that any information that I divulged after resigning from the Public Service Commission, where I am not obligated to maintain any form of privacy about meetings or matters, That if I were to divulge the meeting at the Public Service Commission, they would have already had the narrative that I am mentally ill and I have been institutionalised, but I am prepared to reveal and release this meeting of embezzlement and corruption within the Ministry of Education in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.”
On Wednesday, Joseph-Barnwell, in a Facebook video, demanded a thorough and transparent investigation into the “words uttered by a female officer who made the very incriminating statement.” “‘You’re only lucky,” as I have my own idea, and I have my own interpretation of what was the fate that was destined to me.”
In her video, Joseph-Barnwell emphasised the importance of accountability, urging the public to demand answers from those in power. “We cannot allow corruption to thrive in silence; it is time for the truth to emerge and for justice to be served.”
