BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – Fresh claims of political interference have surfaced in Antigua and Barbuda with the appointment of a new director of public prosecutions, following two changes in that office within the past 18 months.

In 2004, Barbadian Cosbert Cumberbatch was forced to vacate office amid a local media campaign to have him dismissed by the administration of Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer.

And now, acting DPP Gene Pestaina, an Antiguan, is similarly blaming “government politics”.

On Thursday, Pestaina was advised, after the fact, that Jamaican Anthony Armstrong had been appointed, effective October 17, as the new DPP, while he was still acting and without any prior notification.

Pestaina, who has lived most of his life in Dominica and was recruited to replace Cumberbatch, had initially held the substantive post of Senior Crown Counsel when, within a few months in office, Spencer’s United Progressive Party (UPP) administration had him appointed to act as DPP.

But months later he faced criticisms from the UPP and sections of the local media for failing to pursue legal action against former prime minister Lester Bird for his alleged illegal removal of files belonging to the state on the eve of the March 2004 general election.

Bird’s Antigua Labour Party was defeated by Spencer’s UPP.

According to information from the office of the DPP, under both Cumberbatch and Pestaina a prima facie case on the alleged “missing files” was dependent on results of a police probe.

But those investigations were inconclusive.

Speaking with the Observer, Pestaina, referring to his unceremonious “dismissal”, said there had been unfair claims reported against him, leaving no doubt that there had been political pressures to remove him.

He said his problem with the administration was traceable to his earlier public comments that there was no case to prosecute on the claimed “missing files” against Bird.

Attorney-General Justin Simon could not be reached for a response on the three DPP appointments and related allegations of political interference in the case of the missing files.

But in a report in the Antigua Sun, Simon was quoted as saying that the controversy created by Pestaina’s public comments, was merely a “storm in a teacup”.

Simon said the letter of Armstrong’s appointment as new DPP had been erroneously and prematurely sent out by the Judicial and Legal Services Commission.

However, the attorney-general did confirm that Armstrong would soon assume the post and that Pestaina is expected to remain in his post as Senior Crown Counsel.