CMC News
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Former Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) premier, Michael Misick, has been released on conditional bail by the TCI Supreme Court , according to a statement from the Governor’s Office.
The Office said that the bail terms would remain private. But one newspaper reported that Misick’s bail had been set at US$10 million, and 10 persons, all TCI nationals had come forward as sureties with land and buildings valued at just over US$12 million.
Misick, who was extradited from Brazil last week, is due to re-appear in court on March 7 for a sufficiency hearing.
Misick’s bail application was initially rejected by a Magistrate last week before being accepted on appeal by the Turks and Caicos Supreme Court.
But while bail had been agreed, the conditions were not met, and he was remanded in custody at Her Majesty’s Prison Grand Turk, from where he was released Monday.
The allegations of corruption against the 47-year-old former government leader, stem from the findings of the 2008/2009 Sir Robin Auld's Commission of Inquiry which found widespread misuse of government funds and property.
Misick, who has maintained his innocence, had sought political asylum in Brazil, claiming that he was unfairly targeted by British authorities.
The one-man Commission of Inquiry had found there was “a high probability of systemic corruption in government and the legislature and among public officers in the Turks & Caicos Islands”.
In the wake of this Inquiry, London instructed the TCI Governor to suspend part of the Constitution and Misick’s then elected government was removed and replaced by an interim administration. In 2012, the Progressive National party (PNP) led by Dr. Rufus Ewing won the general election
