Members of the government and the opposition are pointing fingers at each other over the circulation of a video purported to have been produced by the BBC.
The video, bearing the BBC news tag, tells a story alleging that Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit and another regional leader are being investigated by the US Justice Department for stolen funds amounting to over one billion dollars.
Senior Counsel, Anthony Astaphan is blaming the United Workers Party (UWP) for, saying that some people “obviously affiliated” with the UWP orchestrated the video.
“I have come to the realization that we have lost some of our people through a culture of ignorance and who will believe anything they hear on Q- 95 or Facebook that has a negative spin about Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit,”, he said.
Astaphan said it is obvious that whoever did that report did it out of malice, greed, jealousy and/or ignorance.
But the President of the Opposition United Workers Party (UWP), Isaac Baptiste, said the report is not only fake but a diversionary tactic to derail attention from the real issue at hand.
“It’s not logical; it’s not practical; it’s not based on current issues and we think it’s DLP propaganda trying to change the narrative on the accounting for the $1.2 billion Dominicans are demanding that it be accounted for,” he told Dominicanewsonline (DNO) in an exclusive interview on Tuesday.
According to Baptiste, Prime Minister Skerrit said a couple of weeks ago that he [Skerrit] had asked the accounting officers to do the accounting and the opposition will be embarrassed.
“We are still waiting on it,” Baptiste remarked. “He is not answering what [are] the results of his accounting, and this is what we want.”
He added, “We want to know, where the money gone.”
Baptiste made it clear that no amount of labour party propaganda trying to change the narrative and the focus of Dominicans will change that demand.
“Whether or not he accounted for it before or after the election, he shall account for it as Minister of Finance,” the UWP president said.
Meanwhile, Marlon Giraudel, a Dominican living in the United States said that accusations that he created the video, “seem to be DLP plot.”
“Yesterday I saw this video pop up, the BBC story. Immediately after about 10 seconds, I said it was fake because the Attorney General who appeared in the video is the Attorney General who was there under the Obama administration, so immediately I knew it was fake…,” he contended.
“I live in America; I watch CNN every day so that is things I knew off my head.,” Giraudel added.
Like Baptiste, he is accusing the ruling party of creating their own propaganda against Roosevelt Skerrit.
Giraudel said there is no need to create fake propaganda against Roosevelt Skerrit.
“Skerrit has done everything by himself. His own actions were enough…for us to vote him out. We don’t need to create fake news about Skerrit,” Giraudel added.
It may not be fake, how do they know that INTERPOL and the FBI may already have started an investigation in secret? INTERPOL and the FBI will not tell them about any international money laundering investigation. Astaphan should just call the FBI and INTERPOL to find out if he and yours truly the PM are being investigated for money laundering and if so how come he has nor received a target letter they need it ASAP.
The fake news people are wasting their time. I will still support Lennox Linton and UWP Team Dominica no matter what they do. No weapon formed against them will prosper. Amen. It won’t work. I will not be distracted either.📢
Where is our 1.2 Billion dollars! We want it! What is the status of Electoral Reform for Dominica! I will not relent!
No fake news or fake video can stop the United Workers Party from becoming the next government. You know it and I know it. It’s happening!
🎉
Okay!
So- fake news does exist?
So- being seen in a photograph with a particular person among many others does not necessarily incriminate you?
So – it is a good thing as I have been saying for years to analyse, not swallow, everything you see and hear?
So – all the dirt posted about certain people in the last 15-20 years may not necessarily be true?
So – when we get a dose of our own medicine it is very unpalatable?
So – at the end of the day when the dust has settled and some are in and some are out will Dominica be the better for it?
So – are those who lived by the sword facing death by the sword?
So – can someone tell me how we are going to redeem Dominica from the nasty, venomous, angry, negative, acrimonious, hate-filled society that has been nurtured over the last several years?
So – good luck is all I can say to whoever wins what appears to be the COVETED prize of Head of Gov’t. I must say COVETED given the lengths to which it appears people will go to win.
Looking at that video one can clearly see that it is fake that the woman making the statement was the AG. for Obama and the case was an African case they just add DA. pictures and the PM. no need for people to fuss over that its pure fake it have Christian & Fountain written all over it.
Do you mean Sam Christian or Gaybrial Christian or both ? Do you mean Thompson Fountain who was the Treasurer of DAAS ? News is that he is in South Sudan. Is that the place where the original video was photoshop to make Dominica look bad ?
I am still searching for answers, but so far it looks like the work of the uwp because their track record is full of fake news that tend to disparage Dominica.
“Skerrit has done everything by himself. His own actions were enough…for us to vote him out. We don’t need to create fake news about Skerrit.” OK, so we can all now agree that the video is fake, but the missing 1.2 Billion Dollars is real. When is the PM going to provide full accountability and transparency on this?
Clarence Christian was on the radio tonight. He called in to the DPSU program of Mr. Letang. So he talked about the UWP having escrow accounts in Royal Bank for CBI when they were in office. I want him to come back on the radio to tell us if the the DLP’s escrow accounts are in Royal Bank too because he was careful to leave out where their escrow accouts are. He said they had one for the “housing option”. Ladies and gentlemen, I have come to the conclusion that Clarence Christian knows where our 1.2 Billion dollars are.
OK we have come to the conclusion that the video is fake, but the missing 1.2 Billion Dollars is real.
WHERE IS OUR MONEY SKERRIT ???
WHERE DE HELL YOU HIDE IT??
Exactly, that’s all what matters. The truth is, over a billion of CBI money remains unaccounted for and there is 100 million US dollar from Venezuela unaccounted for and that is NOT fake news. If this PM believes, that this issue is going away he is very much mistaken. Listen to me Skerrit, you WILL account for these monies sooner rather than later! Mark my words! There is nowhere to hide anymore and that little weasel echoing Trump is not going to help either.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Himmler
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gleiwitz_incident
This is our PM tactics Aided by Tony Astaphans. The most dangerous people on this earth are intelligent folks who have evil and cruel intentions. Can you imagine what Albert Einstein, and all the scientists who worked on the Manhattan project could do if these folks had the moral sins of excess greed, hatred, jealousy and envy? And use thier smarts for theier selfish greed. Earth would no longer exist. Tony Astaphans is and intelligent man but what makes him dangerous is the path he chooses to encourage the PM. Peoe need to understand what they dealing with. These guys must be punished when it is all said an done. Who best to use skirt the law than a lawyer?
I’m not sure what the fuss is about. If you watch the video to the end, there was no attempt at disguising that it was fake; as it called for the PM to account for the $1.2bn and seeks the PM’s resignation. What the video does well, is show what could happen if all the accusations being levelled at the PM are true and this has been made worse by the lack of response to the opposition’s request for accountability.
Anyone who believes one word from the Senior Counsel’s mouth do so at your own peril. This man and the truth are everlasting enemies. Any statement made by this verbal contortionist invariably lacks veracity. This has failed it’s intended purpose to tarnish Mr. Linton’s good name.
Marlon believes he is the only one with a brain. Yes he will continue to fool Matt and the UWP supporters but he has to come damn good to penetrate the Labour defense. Men like Tony, Christian, Daryl, Simeon, Joe T, Alick, Me, even Merridith, Mammy,and the list can go on and on because THEY are too numerous to mention.
Did you think and look at the names you put in your comment before yoy posted it. All crooked
marlon have some people belly boiling eh!
de names you mention is not de ordinary DLP supporter who goes to red clinic
Dat is labor defense??…..dat security line is weak……right now de bombs going right thru de cracks in DLP wall
KID, stop fooling yourself. You have not even a modicum of critically thinking skills. You are just a pathetic follower and goon of the corrupt, lackadaisical Labour concoction. Your desperate party is using every trick to stay in power. Nobody should put anything pass this party. You have to abandon common sense to support the DLP. They have failed abysmally for twenty consecutive years. What good can you expect them to do knowing their sorry and sordid record?
Well well well! The plot thickens, who did what. Both guilty of dirty tricks. Just put the accounts on public display. Show your moral high ground and move on. Mud sticks and the first error after this will not be forgiven. Call the election before the incumbent loses the high ground!
How is that even news. This is trash
To find an excuse to invade Poland during WWII the nazi dressed as polish soldiers ambushed thier own at border just so they can get and excuse invade poland start war. The rally in Roseau was diliberately sabotage by labour supporters and austrie revealed how it was done. How convinient that all the buildings damaged were labour supporters who were paid by government after. I smell a sinister plot. UWP leaders blamed and now in court for false coup. At the airport property was suddenly damaged and the PM knew who but never told police. Today we see propaganda geared at spreading confusion in the minds of public. Skerrit study psychology and i am no fool. All these show a pattern of a disturbed man who will do anything to hold on to power. There is no pretense in the hatred that Tony and skerrit has for linton and it is evident with thier supporters. UWP does not have to put falsehoods 4 us 2 c the state this leader has brought us and the mismanagement of the country. Facts dont lie.
This is a tactic that the DLP operatives, Skerritt and Tony As.-ta-phan have shown they are good at. Remember when they sent the police to search the home of Lennox Linton? Also, don’t forget that Labour Party folks edited videos to make it sound like Linton and teacher Ernie said bad things about Dominica when they didn’t. We’ve seen this playbook before from the Labour Party. Why do you think they will stop now? They are despicable
SADLY, the Country’s Political landscape is highly toxic and unsanitary. Presently, it is not about the party you support (DLP, UWP or DFP) but about the moral, ethical and spiritual sanitization of our political and governance structure.
Our Spiritual leaders, Political leaders (on ALL SIDES) but especially governing leaders, our community leaders, our financial and business leaders, our academic leaders and ALL OF US AS A NATION must look at ourselves critically in the mirror. When weighed in the balance the country is found wanting.
It is time for us as a nation to cut out the Verminous and rabid diatribe which we pride in, calling it Political strategy our wit or conniving and get down to serious nation building.
We need a serious sense of POLITICAL HYGIENE in our parliamentary System.
Maybe GOD will come down and teach our politicians a thing or two about POLITICAL HYGIENE.
Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people. Proverbs 14:34
It starts by removing the current heads of state. A good Sheppard leads his sheep to green pastures. A bad Sheppard leads them to thier demise. Deception, lies, pie in the sky promises and total disregard for the country you serve is not the way to go. We need a leader who will present the facts as is and when things are bad we all find real solutions. How can Dominica improve when the true state of affairs is masked and corrupted by people who have no emotional or national connections to Dominica. Some only thier to protect thier profits.
I never thought I would see the day I agree with Marlon hahahaha, that bostah fella. I do not believe he made the video. the point he made about the attorney general is correct and very important. whoever made the video was not aware of the american political affairs. Guys we can fight a good political fight without all this nonsense. Fake News, Framing, Plots, Plans will be figured out by the people. This is 2019, our brain advance. stop the nonsense okay
A real objective news site will conduct their own investigation to determine the varsity of the video. This type of yellow journalism must not continue. Anyone who would believe that is DLP propaganda, needs their heads to be examine. If so, these people have no credibility. For the sake of honesty have a 💓. Someday the truth will hit them right in the middle of their souls and it would be too late. Have some class and desency
@ Thomas,…Look at the header of this news item. Read it again. It says “FAKE NEWS.” What more do you want.
DNO also posted the comments of spoke people from both parties.
You do the research. Then ask yourself who has a track record of fake news.
Look at how “way de money movement” started. The chairman of the public accounts committee did not write the officials of the house of assembly as advised by the Financial Secretary, He did not have a question standing in his name or a supplementary question, he took it to the streets and ignored proper procedure because of its money propaganda value.
DNO did not want to be judge and jury and decide “who done it.”
That is for the readers to do.
well BBC should be able to claim credibility for the news story…..fake news
i am reminded that when lennox linton was interviewed on CBS 60 minutes show de government and DLP referred to it as fake news
DLP trying hard to tarnish de name of an obviously powerful UWP political leader
in de space of 1 week all of this garbage and propaganda going around……lennox have been harassed by police authorities for leaking skerrit personal info, for an imagined fake news coup, incitement to violence…why de police doh arrest Linton yet?
that trick could never buy a righteous mind
skerrit is digging in de gutters……and he finding friends there to
skerrit is drowning in his filth….catching straws not working, he take out his shirt but he still sinking..
skerrit take out de big heavy “gold bars” you have in your pocket nuh?…..you sinking……get rid of dat weight skerrit
as man as a media organisation DNO can’t even get confirmation from BBC about this
Mr. Baptiste your statements are redundant. We are completely aware of the billions missing is just a witch-hunt and to cover your inabilities for your none involvement in the rebuilding of our nation. The UWP doesn’t have a record to run on, you and your party doesn’t address the issues currently plaguing that nation. Instead you are running on unsubstantiated innuendos. Give us facts and numbers as to how you arrived at this conclusion.? After bashing the poverty that exists in Dominica, where did the money come from! Did Adam or Eve willed the money to you! Mr. Baptiste you went overseas using derogatory words to describe DA women, now you want us to believe you! Get a Life and stop clowning!
@Say what, how can Mr. Baptist’s comment be redundant when Skerritt just had a woman with a British accent trying to explain away the $1.2 billion deficit only to reveal that the deficit is bigger. Skerritt told us that he has employed accountants to be like Christopher Columbus and discover where the money is or went. There isn’t any logical and forensic evidence yet but instead, we have PWC, Sam Raphael, Tony As.-ta-phan, Montreal Management and others spinning webs around each other trying to make the gross incompetence disappear like Houdini. Until there proper accounting for the $1.2 billion this issue is not irrelevant.
A witch hunt you call that? Well, I call it a crime, a crime against the state of Dominica and it’s citizens. If it’s not true, why doesn’t the PM of DA put the record straight and show us independently audited accounts?? That’s not difficult if he has nothing to hide. So Skerrit, what is it to be?
I got the video yesterday and replied the person that it is a nice video but too bad it is a fake. No need for us to keep pointing fingers and being distracted from the real issues at hand. Both parties have acknowledged that the video is fake so to the supporters of all parties, let us move on to the real issues at hand. Concentrate on what we want and getting our country back on track.
Marlon is so correct, there is no need to create any fake video on Skerrit, there is enough real news. Skerrit and his party are the ones always making fake videos and websites, the latest of which is the CCENEWs and Ross replacement both plagiarizing from other credible sites. Ministers like Tonge are the ones sharing all the fake news therefore we can safely say that the DLP is encouraging fake news. The UWP do not make fake websites or videos and they have been asking supporters and Dominicans to avoid spreading fake news. Its very easy to see who the fakes are.
Exactly, Skerrits refusal to account for the money speaks volumes, and that’s a fact! That is definitely not fake news, it’s just a sad story of a man that refuses to do his duties in compliance with the constitution of the state of Dominica. I will not even mention the phrase ‘moral duties’ because that are words that have always been missing from this PM’s dictionary!!
UWP will do what ever it takes to unseat the working government
But Lennox Linton will never be PM in Dominica
Maybe in the next century
He pretends he loves Dominica but the man do not know what is love
All the way with labour
Red all the way
We voting them 5 more years
Who do not like it suck salt
UWP knows they are guilty of putting out this fake news feed. I am so disappointed in these people. Shame Shame Shame. Bravo Marlon who you think you fooling
Ask yourself who has the money to do this, who is most likely to benefit, who wants to change the narrative, who uses reverse psychology at every given opportunity, and you will have the answer to who produced and released this video
Marlon, you are very correct.
The PM needs no fake news, he has made headlines by himself.
The PM is the most corrupt and wealthy in the Caribbean.
I do not believe Anthony Astaphan, i believe Isaac Baptiste.. Remember people, not too long ago they, i.e the DLP in desperation, tried to associate patriot Linton to some kind of land selling thing..This was unmasked, and fell straight on it’s face!!!
DLP is desperate! They are cornered, they need to account to us. They need to answer to the people about the missing 1.291 billion $$$$$$$$$$..
We need the money. People are still under tarpaulin!!
Whey is di money?
Whey is di money?
Whey is di money?
Another gimmick of Skerritt and his rogue regime trying to divert the attention on the opposition but nothing he do cannot work he is on his way out out out!!!!
And the reason why currant administration plans are not working is because there is someone who is much greater than all of you especially your DLP leader , I see from time to time he quote parts of the bible but I wonder if he really knows what he is saying. I want his supporters and himself to know that the power of God is not to be played with because vengeance belongs to him. Dominica and Dominicans beware of the facts .
This clearly looks like diversionary tactics by the most corrupt administration in the region, the incumbent regime of Dominaca. There is so much corruption at present associated with this current government that there isn’t a need for any opposition party to fabricate. The Skerrit-led administration is so immoral and unsavory that they even lie on themselves to create a false narrative to mislead the public and gain sympathy. Imagine that!
Both sides need to stop the bull….. My advise to the opposition; “if you want change, focus all your energy not on FIGHTING the old but on BUILDING the NEW.” Wise words from our brother Socrates.
Enough of the nonsense with all the fake propaganda from both sides. Is there another party making strides. Time to form the Dominican People Party! Enough already.
One Love Dominicans #OLD
Sadly you have said nothing of worth. Trying to speak on both sides of your mouth is repugnant! You know what’s going on so say it and STOP playing double agent
. Some of us must speak out and call wrong when we see it.
I’m not a DLP or UWP supporter I’m a patriot and proud of it but I’m not a fool or burning my head in the sand and accept stupidity and I’m sorry but right now Dominica needs help to be able to move forward, so stop your hypocrisy and look at the facts,, don’t you believe that $ 1.2 millions would do very good for the development of the Island, and think of all the other monies that other Countries donated during “Maria” have you ever wonder what happened to that, to be honest I don’t see any fighting on the UWP side I see them educating the public on what is going on, and what do you believe the DLP is doing for the average person at the bottom of the ladder, we need to move forward and the only way to do that is to change the government.
I feel you but please quit quoting the greeks. Socrates, Aristotle, Hypocritus and the others were all fake. I bet you’ll find that inscription on a wall in a temple or pyramid in Kemet/Egypt or on something stolen by Europeans and placed in the British museum.
This is the tone of this highly corrupted, immature, failed labour Party.
Giraudel said there is no need to create fake propaganda against Roosevelt Skerrit. Read this my people an you will get the picture of how Skerrit and his failed Labour has reduced our people to begging, corruption and idiotic behavior to have failed us to any kind of development. Skerrit has created begging an poverty and corruption in Dominica. Failed man
“Skerrit has done everything by himself. His own actions were enough…for us to vote him out. We don’t need to create fake news about Skerrit,” Giraudel added.
Ok, he did not create this one. Which one is he taking responsibility for? Is this guys serious? The UWP dirty tricks department is working overtime. What a shame…..
?? UWP does not have resources to create fake news. Your PM told you many times what UWP is broke. The same one that created the fake website to frame LEnnox is the same one that produced the fake video. It backfired again in their faces.
Really? Did you just say that? Seriously? May god have mercy on you.SMMFH