Former Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell is of the view that The Bahamas government should take a stronger stance in the investigation into the deaths Alrae Ramsey and Blair John –the two Bahamians found dead in Turin, Italy earlier this month.
“The spokesman for The Bahamas government should have said in a position like this, that we are pressing the Italian authorities to bring this matter to a conclusion. We will be following the investigation to make sure that the law is followed and we get to the answer, that’s what our responsibility is as a government,” said Mr. Mitchell.
He said, “the government also has a responsibility and I made this point privately to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ensure in this present dispensation where information is coming at you 24 hours a day, that if there is a vacuum, the public is going to fill it with information,” he said.
This then begs the question of whether Mr. Mitchell is confident Italian authorities will investigate the incident.
He said, “I think they have the capacity to do so, but I think that someone has to be watching over their shoulders to make sure that they do the proper job.
“My own view is whether or not we ourselves should convene a Coroner’s inquest,” the PLP Chairman said.
The PLP Senator also hit at social media reports attacking the young men, charging that Ramsey and John were the finest examples of Bahamian males.
“They don’t deserve in death, to have their reputations tarnished or sullied in any way, shape or form.
“The Bahamas government has a responsibility to say something to the Italian authorities, because the information which is coming out in the Italian press must obviously come from Italian official sources,” he said.
Senator Mitchell stated: “the suspicion I have is that the Italian government, and I say this advisedly, does not want it to be seen that there is foul play involved in this and that it has to do with the social conditions which are obtained in Italy today,” Mr. Mitchell said.
The bodies of the two men were retrieved from the Po River on June 4th and 5th.
A Foreign Service officer, Ramsey was in Turin on study leave in Vienna. John, meantime was there attending a psychology conference.
