Attorney-at-law and United Workers’ Party (UWP) member Sarah Flood-Beaubrun says she has begun civil action against Castries Central MP Richard Frederick and McDowell Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), and lodged a police complaint over statements she alleges are defamatory.
Speaking at a meeting of the UWP-backed The People’s Forum, Flood-Beaubrun said both had been served with a pre-action letter. She also asked the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force to investigate statements made about her by Frederick, which she maintains are factually untrue. Her account of the civil process identified a pre-action letter but did not specify whether a claim had been filed in court.
Flood-Beaubrun said she made several attempts to report the matter, including a visit to the Criminal Investigations Department, before being advised to write to the Commissioner of Police. She subsequently submitted a written complaint and displayed what she described as a signed acknowledgement of receipt.
She said the complaint alleged criminal libel under Saint Lucia’s Criminal Code. Beyond the disputed statements, Flood-Beaubrun challenged Frederick’s conduct as a public official, arguing that his broadcasts damaged reputations. “As a government minister, you are elected to protect, to defend, to help, not to destroy,” she told the gathering.
She drew a distinction between the personal redress she was pursuing through civil action and the public accountability she believed the police complaint raised. “The civil one is mine. The criminal is ours,” she said.
Although she referred to a criminal “case” during her remarks, the announcement described a complaint to police and did not establish that criminal charges had been laid. Flood-Beaubrun stressed that her allegations had not been determined by a court. “I’m not saying he’s guilty of it. I’m telling you the complaint I made,” she said, adding that she was awaiting the outcome of the police process.
