ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, Jun 2, CMC – A former Antigua & Barbuda Defence Force (ABDF) captain, George Wehner, is to appear in court in August on charges of threatening to kill and intimidation involving Prime Minister Gaston Browne and other government ministers.
Attorney Leon Chaku Symister, told the Antigua Observer newspaper that his client had been served with a summons to appear in court on August 24, to answer the charges that followed the airing of a campaign video by the main opposition United Progressive Party (UPP) political hopeful for St George.
In December last year, Prime Minister Browne told Parliament that the video incited the assassination of legislators and that the matter was of “serious concern” and one of national security.
He told legislators then that the video which had been circulating through the social media “brings terrorism and incitement to commit murder directly into our country and at the very heart of government.
“The video, which has a strong military focus, portrays several members of this Honourable House on the government side as targets for execution. It also portrays you, Mr Speaker, as a target for such a murderous act,” Browne said.
Wehner, who last December was released by the police pending further investigations, faces 28 charges, two for each of the 14 people who were targeted in the video.
Wehner had issued a public apology over the video. Speaking on Observer Radio last year, he said while he is taking ownership of the video, he denied suggestions that he intends to carry out any act of terrorism in Antigua and Barbuda.