It is textbook in its simplicity: a police officer sworn “to serve and protect” makes his way to a court appearance charged with possession and trafficking of cocaine, while journalists arrive to take photos for the press. Simple? Not in Barbados. For, in Barbados, this ‘oasis of calm in an otherwise troubled world’, two journalists now await trial after a brutish arrest in their line of duty[¹]. Welcome to Barbados, a democracy with caveats.

Reactions around Barbados

“Commissioner Dottin has once again promised to have some sort of investigation or inquiry into the incident – the same as he always promises whenever the police shoot an unarmed citizen in the back of the head or beat up working reporters.”

Barbados Police Out Of Control – Journalists Arrested For Reporting On Crooked Cops – Call For Commissioner’s Resignation (Barbados Free Press)

“It feels like there is a creeping disrespect for journalism and it’s coming from all sides.”

Barbados Media Personnel Urged To Support Colleagues In The Face Of Police Harassment (Barbados Underground)

“The action of the Police force in this matter reeks of the Gestapo tactics which takes place in Zimbabwe and other oppressive dictatorships around the world.”

“Royal Barbados Police Force Making my Ass Sick” (Peter Boyce)

Support our journalists

Show your support for the arrested journalists by attending their court hearing tomorrow, December 22, at the District A Criminal Court at 0900.

Antillean · Bridgetown, Barbados

The Antillean is a pan-Caribbean nonprofit media outlet, covering news, features and opinions on social issues in the Caribbean region and the wider Americas. Our mission is to encourage conversation on, and enhance the visibility of, social currencies within the hemisphere – issues which are often underreported in the mainstream media.

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