Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

George Missick

#TurksandCaicos, May 8, 2024 – Not only did TCIG completely ignore the ruling of the Supreme Court by not complying with court-ordered actions in the Gilbert Selver land case, but they responded with a late appeal outside of the usually acceptable time frame, in preparation to go after other landowners, according to George Missick, lawyer for Selver, as he revealed to Magnetic Media what led to the recent Court of Appeal decision to strip the businessman of his land.

We learned the initial Supreme Court case had been initiated by Selver after years of applying for the vouchers, promised to him in a 2008 offer, to pay for his freehold titles and being given the runaround, and he won.

Missick clarified the facts of that case including that Selver had never been squatting on the land.

“He had permission to be there, the government knew he was there, he had planning permission to put up buildings. He was never a squatter. This case was not about squatting but about whether he was entitled to possession.”

Missick maintained that they have the documentation to prove it.

So why did the government decide to apply for an appeal after missing the requisite period? The answer was shared by TCIGs lawyers, Missick told us.

“They actually filed this appeal late and had to go to the court and ask for permission to appeal ‘out of time’ and one of the things they said in their affidavit when they filed that request was that they wanted to pursue this matter because there were a lot of other people; they’re coming after people’s land.”

Missick explained that the Supreme Court judge held that:

• The contract offered by TCIG has not expired and Selver was entitled to the land at freehold purchase price.
• Selver should have been offered the vouchers to pay the fee for his freehold and TCIG should have paid his legal fees.
• It would have been inequitable to strip him of the land because of the expenditure Selver had already incurred by investing in the land with government knowledge.

The government complied with none of that, Missick confirmed to us.

“How are you upholding rule of law and when the Supreme Court judge made the ruling you’ve ignored it? A declaration was made that Mr. Selver should get the vouchers to pay for his land. We wrote for those vouchers but we never got them. They ignored the judgment, they didn’t pay,” Missick said.

Gilbert Selver

Eventually, despite the late appeal by TCIG, the Court of Appeal overturned the initial Supreme Court ruling.  Missick revealed that as of Thursday, May 2, on behalf of Gilbert Selver, he had begun the process to take the case to the Privy Council and shared why they thought it would succeed.

“We think the decision was wrong in particular as a legal point— One of the fundamental principles that’s been held up before, that only in really extreme or rare cases should the Court of Appeal interfere with findings of fact of a judge below and substitute its own decision for that judge,” Missick said.

After severe public backlash negotiations are ongoing between Selver and officials from the government but whatever the outcome Missick says it will be a watershed moment.

“This decision affects not only Mr. Selver but many other Turks and Caicos Islanders who have been offered land from the government, who built properties so I think it does need to be challenged.”

Missick hopes that the government will rectify the areas of the Crown Land Ordinance that would strip islanders of their property.

“It’s a harsh thing to tell someone— where are people supposed to go and live, what are they supposed to go and do?” He mused.

Missick is also advising residents to hold on to their documents and not rely on government copies to support themselves in their burden of proof.

Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer 

#TurksandCaicos, May 8, 2024 – Airports in five different British Overseas Territories, on Monday, shut down following a series of bomb hoaxes issued over 24 hours in what could be a wider hoax ring affecting schools and airports across India and the Caribbean, connected by their origin point, emails coming from a Russian domain.

It was mostly airports that were affected with the exception of the Ona Glinton Primary in Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos, which received a bomb threat before midday Monday, May 6, and quickly evacuated its students. That email, leveling threats at children, is an escalation of a series of airport threats issued in the hours and days prior.

Affected were Anguilla, Bermuda, The British Virgin Islands, Cayman and the Turks and Caicos Islands which are allo British Overseas territories and which all received the “credible threat” emailed between 4 p.m. Sunday May 5th and 11:30 a.m. Monday May 6th.

In a press release at 11:30 a.m. Monday, the Government of Anguilla revealed that a bomb threat had been made against the Clayton J. Lloyd International Airport. Cayman Police also received an email from  melin.vika@mail.ru early Monday, threatening the national carrier Cayman Airways Limited which they determined was a hoax, there were no reports of any shutdowns in Cayman.

The night before, Sunday, May 5th,  the Bermuda Police Service alerted the Public to an emergency at 8:35 p.m. that turned out to be a bomb threat that delayed a British Airways Flight and diverted an American Airways Flight. Just hours earlier, around 6 pm Magnetic Media reporters received reports of a bomb threat at both the JAGS McCartney International Airport in Grand Turk and the Providenciales International Airport in Providenciales. When we arrived on the scene the airport was being evacuated and planes emptied of people as the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force (RTCIPF) checked for explosives.

That followed a 4 p.m. scare clocked by The Royal Virgin Islands Police Force about a potential bomb threat at Terrance B. International Airport in the British Virgin Islands.

The threats were made by email according to authorities across the various OTs and while most of the countries were new to the menacing communication, the Turks and Caicos has been experiencing the email hoaxes since Friday, April 26 with a total of seven so far.

All of them were made against various airports except the Ona Glinton Primary threat on Monday, that same day thousands of miles away over 40 schools in Ahmedabad India received emails from an address labeled tauheedl@mail.ru which, while different from the one identified in Cayman ended in the same mail.ru that Indian Officials identify as a Russian server; though officials say the server would have easily been masked using a VPN and may not necessarily originate in Russia.

Like the TCI, India has been struggling with the emails for over a week with over 100 schools having been affected in different areas of the country, especially Delhi since May 1.

All the threats have so far turned out to be hoaxes.

Officials are urging calm across the region as they investigate.

#TurksandCaicos, May 11, 2024 – The forfeiture of the vessel Marassa Express, valued at approximately $120,000.00, has been secured following a recent court decision. The vessel’s forfeiture comes as a result of a meticulously coordinated effort involving the Immigration Department, Customs Department, Royal Turks and Caicos Islands, the Office of the Department of Public Prosecution and the legal representation of The Crown by Dr. Angela Brooks.

The case stems from an intelligence-led operation conducted on West Caicos on 5^th February 2023, where 90 migrants were encountered. Following the operation, The Crown successfully prosecuted the defendants, Alexis Georgis and Meralien Merlien, in the Magistrate court.

The defendants were convicted of various charges related to unlawful entry and failure to report to the proper officer. Alexis Georgis was fined $9,500 payable in 14 days or 18 months imprisonment, as well as $3,500 payable in 14 days or three months imprisonment. Meralien Merlien was fined $9,000 payable in 14 days or 16 months imprisonment.

The appeal, heard last week and decided on April 30^th, 2024, saw the court dismissing the appeal and confirming the sentences imposed on the defendants.

Arlington Musgrove; Minister of Immigration and Border Services stated, “The forfeiture of the Marassa Express is not just a legal victory; it is a powerful statement of our unwavering commitment to safeguarding our borders and ensuring the integrity of our immigration laws. This outcome sends a clear message to those who seek to exploit our borders unlawfully: there will be consequences, and we will pursue justice relentlessly.”

This successful outcome underscores the effective collaboration between various departments within the Turks and Caicos Islands authorities, highlighting their commitment to upholding immigration and customs laws, as well as ensuring the safety and security of the Turks and Caicos Islands.