A fresh controversy over potential executive overreach into the island nation’s judicial system has prompted a firm public reassurance from Antigua and Barbuda’s top diplomat that the government will never act to remove or deport a sitting judge. Foreign Affairs Minister E.P. Chet Greene delivered the administration’s formal clarification during a live interview on the popular WTP radio program *Beneath the Surface*, where he addressed widespread public debate sparked by recent comments from Prime Minister Gaston Browne regarding criminal sentencing practices.
In clear, unambiguous terms during the interview, Greene stated: “This administration never deported a member of the judiciary, and it will never happen.” He pushed back against growing public narrative that suggested friction between the country’s three branches of government — the executive, legislature, and judiciary — warning that any perception of institutional division only serves to undermine public safety and embolden criminal actors.
“The respect for the separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary is guaranteed. It’s protected,” Greene emphasized, noting that these core democratic principles are enshrined in the nation’s foundational law. During the interview, he also read out an official follow-up statement issued by Prime Minister Browne, designed to clear up any misinterpretation of Browne’s initial remarks that ignited the controversy.
The Prime Minister’s clarification read: “To remove all doubt, no judge will be removed, reassigned, deported or otherwise dealt with by executive fiat. Questions concerning the tenure, assignment or conduct of a judicial officer are governed by the Constitution and the law, and those arrangements will be respected.”
Greene offered context for Browne’s original comments, explaining that they were delivered in a moment of well-founded frustration over the sharp rise in gun-related violence across Antigua and Barbuda, and widespread public anxiety over lenient criminal sentencing. He stressed that the Prime Minister’s formal clarification should put an end to all unsubstantiated speculation that the executive branch planned to interfere with the independence of the judiciary.
Moving past the controversy, Greene called on the public and all political factions to refocus attention on the core national crisis of violent crime. He urged stakeholders to engage in calm, fact-based, nonpartisan dialogue aimed at solutions, rather than petty political conflict. He reaffirmed that all three branches of government share a common goal of curbing gun violence, and repeated that institutional disunity only creates conditions that allow criminal activity to flourish.