By RIEL MAJOR

Tribune Staff Reporter

rmajor@tribunemedia.net

THE Department of Immigration’s internal investigation teams are probing the circumstances surrounding a video in which an immigration officer is seen hitting a man in the face, according to Immigration Director Clarence Russell.

When contacted about the incident, Mr Russell urged the public not to draw assumptions from just a few seconds of cell phone video.

Mr Russell told The Tribune: “All citizens of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas and visitors alike are presumed innocent until proven guilty or until such time as said suspect enters a plea of guilt. That constitutional right extends to all and sundry, sworn officers included.

“In the absence of all of the facts of evidence, one should refrain from presuming innocence or guilt, given any circumstance. Especially those social media based. The matter to which you make reference is now the subject of a thorough police investigation and that of my Immigration Department’s internal investigation teams.”

He continued: “I remind members of the public that in all circumstances, the statute laws of this nation shall be carried out, without malice, favour, prejudice, ill-will or fear. Uniformed on-duty officers have a lawful duty to perform, in protecting the sovereignty of this nation. We will not be deterred.”

In the eight second video, three immigration officers are seen struggling to detain a man who one of the officers suggests has hit him. It is not clear when or where the video was shot.

One of the immigration officers is heard using foul language and asking the man, “Who you slapping bey (sic)?”

That same officer raises his hand and strikes the man across his face while saying, “Don’t play with me. Catch yourself, catch yourself.” A bystander, who can only be heard in the video, exclaiming, “Oh no!” as the three officers struggle with the man.

Rights Bahamas released a statement on the issue, saying it is “appalled but not surprised by the disgusting behaviour of the shameful bully tactics and reprehensible physical abuse doled out by immigration officers.”

The statement read: “Countless testimonials indicate that this sort of disgusting behaviour is not the exception, but rather the rule for this out of control, rogue department. In the first instance, they have no right to board public transportation and demand that people show them papers. This is not Nazi Germany, and there is no law that gives them this power. They cannot claim the victim was resisting arrest, as they had no right to arrest him in the first place.

“The officers shown launching a totally unjustified physical attack on a civilian must be prosecuted for assault immediately. The politicians and senior civil servants who repeatedly deny that such abuse occurs and blindly defend the indefensible behaviour of these aggressive, violent officers must apologise for their rank hypocrisy.”

The statement continued: “Rights Bahamas encourages all right-thinking members of the public to continue to record evidence of the wrongdoing of Immigration officers and any other branch of the government that abuses its power. We remind law enforcement once again that there is no law against filming or recording officers in uniform, and any attempt to hinder such recording or confiscate cell phones is illegal.”

Rights Bahamas encouraged the victim of this incident and others involved in cases of official brutality to contact them for help, support and legal representation.

The chaotic clip was widely shared on Facebook and has reignited debate over protocol of immigration officers, with users coming to defence of both the officers and the man being detained.

One Facebook user wrote that the officer should face some punishment, adding: “Do your job with integrity and honour.”

Another user posted: “He actually did his job well. The man was resisting, the police can use force. Good job!”