The Attorney-General and the Commissioner of Police have been accused of attempting to tarnish the reputation of former premier Ewart Brown before a global audience.

Correspondence from Dr Brown’s lawyer, Jerome Lynch QC, was sent today to both Trevor Moniz and Michael DeSilva, and copied to the media.

The civil suit filed by the Bermuda Government against the Lahey Clinic, and the statements issued by Mr Moniz, “clearly relate to a pending criminal investigation in Bermuda and were made with the intention to encourage a global public to believe that our client is guilty of serious criminal conduct”, the letter to the Attorney-General states, adding that the actions “appear designed to prejudge the assessment of the facts by the competent judicial authority”.

“You therefore appear to have violated our client’s constitutional right to be presumed innocent, and undermined the fairness of any future trial.”

The letters stress Dr Brown’s “willingness to assist the police investigation” and fault the issuing of the suit without providing notice.

They also reference the constitution’s separation of the Attorney-General from involvement in criminal investigations.

The letter tells Mr Moniz: “By making public statements on behalf of the Government of Bermuda that describe serious criminal conduct, and by pronouncing our client’s guilt to the world without even purporting to frame your statements as mere allegations, you have violated several fundamental tenets of the Bermudian constitutional settlement. We are also concerned that you may have violated international treaty provisions as well as US federal law.”

Mr Moniz is given 14 days to provide answers to queries, such as whether the Attorney-General had discussed the investigation of Dr Brown with representatives from the Bermuda Police Service or the Director of Public Prosecutions — and why the former premier was not given a chance to respond before the allegations were made.

Similar questions posed to the police commissioner query the means by which “foreign-sourced evidence” was obtained.

Dr Brown, who returned to the island yesterday from overseas, has repeatedly contested the ongoing investigation against him, and vehemently denied any wrongdoing in his business relationships with the Lahey Clinic in Massachusetts.

• To read both letters, click on the PDFs under “Related Media”.

• On occasion The Royal Gazette may decide to not allow comments on what we consider to be a controversial or contentious story. As we are legally liable for any slanderous or defamatory comments made on our website, this move is for our protection as well as that of our readers.