Cayman Islands publisher 'flees' after row over Fifa editorial
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Version 0 of 1. The Fifa scandal has become a press freedom issue in the Cayman Islands, where the government has pulled its advertising from a leading newspaper and its publisher has left the country claiming to be in fear of his life. David Legge, editor-in-chief of the Cayman Compass and co-owner of the paper with his wife, Vicki, says he had to flee because the prime minister, Alden McLaughlin, “put a target on my back”. The row blew up after the Compass ran an editorial on 3 June based around the allegations of bribery and corruption against Jeffrey Webb, the former Fifa vice president and president of Concacaf who headed the Caymans football federation. The paper criticised Cayman leaders over their supposed slow response to the allegations of bribery and also railed against “common” corruption in daily life in the Caymans. It called on officials to begin “exhaustive inquiries” into possible illicit activities that might have occurred in relation to the Fifa scandal. Two days later, McLaughlin told a legislative meeting that the editorial was “reckless” and “must be interpreted as a treasonous attack on the Cayman Islands and on all the people of Cayman”. The Caymans governing body later voted to pull advertising from the Compass. The Legges applied for, and were given, police protection before flying off to Florida. Their paper carried a front page with a single headline: “In Memoriam, Free Speech in the Cayman Islands, June 5, 2015”. But the claims by David Legge about fearing for his life have been criticised in an article on a rival news outlet, the Cayman News Service, “The man who ran”. Its writer, Nicky Watson, scorns claims about him “fleeing” the country, adding: “In a world where incredibly brave reporters in many countries display remarkable courage in the face of terrible dangers, Legge runs away from the Cayman Islands. Yes, the Cayman Islands. The absurdity is mind-blowing. Shameful”. Sources: Cayman News Service/Cayman Compass/New York Times/Washington Post/The Guardian |