Opposition asks Bird to step aside until sex probe is complete
ST JOHNS, Antigua (AP) — The opposition is asking Prime Minister Lester Bird to step aside until independent authorities investigate allegations that he had sex with a teenage girl and asked her to arrange drug deals for him and his brother.
The girl made the allegations to two reporters who videotaped the interview. Although the reporters say the videotape was never meant to be broadcast, a copy was widely distributed.
“It is absolutely essential that we restore some degree of dignity and pride in this country,” opposition leader Baldwin Spencer, who held a meeting to show the videotape earlier this month, said Tuesday.
Spencer said his United Progressive Party has asked the US and British embassies to help investigate. Officials from the embassies were not immediately available for comment yesterday.
Antiguan police are investigating the allegations. Although the investigation is headed by British police force consultant, Spencer says the consultant has been working for the government’s anti-drug and money laundering programme for nearly a year and is likely to be biased.
“This situation is unacceptable, and pressure must be brought in the particular areas to ensure that this investigation is thorough, independent, transparent,” Spencer said.
Authorities are also investigating the veracity of the teenage girl’s allegations, as well as those who distributed the videotape.
Bird has denied he ever met the girl, and has filed defamation lawsuits against Spencer, the girl and two journalists who conducted the interview. He also asked for an injunction against the Observer Media group, which employs the two journalists, to prevent further reproduction and distribution of the tape.
Calls to Bird’s office were not immediately returned yesterday.
During a four-hour interview videotaped in December, the girl, who is now 15, said she had sexual relations with both Bird and his brother, Ivor Bird, in 1999, when she was 12.
The girl — who said she was born in Suriname on May 15, 1987, and carries a Guyanese passport — also alleged she made payments for cocaine deals on behalf of Bird, his brother, and Chief of Staff Asot Michael.
