FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Anesia Baptiste Democratic Republican Party (DRP) Tel# 1-784-456-6257, 1-784-528-1015 E-mail: democraticrepublicanpartysvg@gmail.

com Website: www.democraticrepublicanpartysvg.com 23rd September, 2013

REPEAL SECTIONS 6, 16 AND 25 OF THE GRENADA ELECTRONIC CRIMES ACT 2013

As news broke today about statements from the Prime Minister of Grenada Hon. Keith Mitchell, that he would make changes to the controversial Grenada Electronic Crimes Act 2013, Leader of the Democratic Republican Party (DRP) of St. Vincent and the Grenadines Anesia Baptiste is asking Grenadians to demand the absolute repeal of sections 6, 16 and 25 of the Act as the only acceptable change Baptiste, who has been the only CARICOM politician publicly involved in advocating for the repeal of the notorious sections, remains cautious about the Prime Ministers promises. In a news release published today on the online www.nowgrenada.com, Prime Minister Mitchell was quoted as saying I have agreed to make the necessary changes, after having discussions with members of the local and regional media, so that there will be no doubt about the intention of the country Mitchell also added criminal libel has gone and is not coming back. The Grenadian Prime Minister also affirmed We have no intention of limiting free speech or any types of comments. That was never the intention of the act, and if that gives that impression we will deal with it The Vincentian DRP leader who issued a statement on 23rd August condemning the sections of the Act, is now, one month later, urging caution, noting that the Prime Minister did not

emphatically state that he will repeal sections 6 and 16 of the Act which threaten to criminalize offensive, annoying, inconvenient, insulting and other language described with vague words. Baptiste also asks Grenadians to recall that the Electronic Crimes Bill was once withdrawn on July 10th from the House of Senate by the Keith Mitchell Government, claiming it had heeded the voice of concerned citizens for more consultations. Recent history shows however that the same Bill was returned to the Senate, debated on and passed on August 21st with the same anti-freedom of speech sections, Baptiste said. Grenadians must be very cautious with the Prime Ministers comments. The best course of action must be affirmative and there must be no subtle changes to clauses allowing them to be interpreted in this way or that way. Grenadians must accept nothing less than the complete repeal of sections 6, 16 and 25 of the Act. The Act is very good without those sections. Baptiste contends.

About Anesia Baptiste Anesia Baptiste is the founder of the newest political party in St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) called the Democratic Republican Party (DRP). She is the holder of a 1998 National Scholarship and a 2013 graduate of the University of London International programmes with a Bachelor of Laws Degree- LLB (Hons). Baptiste also holds a Double Master Degree in Hotel & Tourism Management from the Vatel Institute in Nimes and the French state University of Perpignan in France, and is also the holder of a Bachelor of Arts Degree in French from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. One of few young women political activists in SVG, Baptiste was honored among the Top 100 Global Women in the International Womens Day March 8th 2013 edition of the Washington based Diplomatic Courier International Affairs magazine. In SVG Baptiste hosts a weekly Television program called Serving the People, frequently hosts TV show The Rights of the People by the Thusian Institute for Religious Liberty and has authored one book- Socialist Revolution: From Grenada to St. Vincent. For more information on the Democratic Republican Party visit Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/DemocraticRepublicanPartySvg ###