No apology from US Government to Jamaican fishermen wrongly detained

The attorney for the four Jamaican fishermen who were wrongly detained in the United States says the men are yet to receive an apology from the American Government despite reports the Americans have said they are sorry.

The four men were arrested by the US Coast Guard and their boat, Lady Lawla, destroyed under the terms of the Shiprider Agreement, but they were ordered released by the Southern District Court of Florida.

On Friday, Foreign Affairs Minister Kamina Johnson Smith told the Jamaican Senate that US officials had apologised during a bilateral meeting held on January 6.

Bert Samuels, attorney for the fishermen, told Radio Jamaica News however that, if there was an apology, it was only extended to the government; not to his clients.

Mr. Samuels has also responded to claims by the Foreign Affairs Minister that the Jamaican authorities were made aware of the dismissal of the case against the fishermen through the media on December 28.

He this constitutes an indictment of the process established under the Shiprider Agreement.