Captain George Wehner
George Wehner, an aspiring politician for the opposition United Progressive Party (UPP), has been accused of intimidation and threatening to kill several parliamentarians from the ruling Antigua Barbuda Labour Party, including Prime Minister Gaston Browne.
The charges, which had not been served on Wehner and his lawyers Leon Chaku Symister and Charlesworth Tabor up to late last night, reportedly stem from a video in which Wehner’s voice is heard and it portrays a total of 14 ruling party MPs and government officials as bullseye targets.
In the video, which went viral late last year after it was shared on MYUPP Facebook page and other social media platforms, Wehner also identifies himself; there’s also the sound of gunfire and the re-enactment of scenes of a battlefield.
He was detained in December when the police began their investigations but released without charge. The UPP caretaker for the St George constituency admitted connection to the video but dismissed claims that it provoked terrorism.
Sources close to the matter told OBSERVER media yesterday, that instead of arresting Wehner, the police are proceeding by way of a summons to inform him of the charges.
Last night, Wehner’s lawyer, Symister, expressed dissatisfaction that the media was aware of the charges before his client was officially informed or served with a summons.
“We will not be surprised if he is charged because the political witch hunt, the political persecution, the use of the police continues. But, we think that it is unsatisfactory at best that if a citizen is to be charged with an offence or a number of offences that he hears it in the news for the first time.,” he said.