An anti-conscription campaigner claims that former senior Regiment officers have stifled public debate on the topic.

Larry Marshall Sr. of Bermudians Against the Draft (B.A.D) spoke yesterday of his anger that a forum involving his group at Bermuda College was cancelled earlier this year, along with a debate on Hott 1075 radio last weekend.

Chairman of the college governors Larry Mussenden has confirmed that he directed the campus event to be cancelled after a request from Minister of Public Safety David Burch. He listed his reasons as including that conscription is a “sensitive” matter both before the courts and in the community, with a legal fight by B.A.D in progress.

“The forum is a public forum (and) the media are likely to attend the forum and report the substance of the forum. Public discussion of the issues could have a pre-trial effect on the proceedings,” said Mr. Mussenden.

However, Mr. Marshall yesterday pointed out that both Senator Burch and Mr. Mussenden are former senior-ranking Regiment officers — going on to allege that another former senior officer also influenced Hott to cancel its debate.

He said the Regiment declined invitations to both events, claiming: “They don’t want to turn up to the debates, but they try to muzzle our group. They are preventing us speaking to the media. It’s interesting to note that in a recent interview the Premier (Ewart Brown) declared how he participated as an activist on the campus of Howard University in Washington D.C. Bermuda College cannot discuss this due to decisions made by pro-Regiment personnel. As far as the issue being contentious — in most instances that’s what college campuses are for. The issue affects the young people more than any other group in society.”

As was first reported by this newspaper in January, 14 members of Bermudians Against the Draft (B.A.D) have initiated court action against the Governor, Deputy Governor and Attorney General, branding the draft as akin to slavery. Among the allegations made are that the ballot which chooses conscripts is gender-biased and a breach of human rights, and the Governor did not made reasonable efforts to recruit sufficient volunteers to the Regiment before filling its ranks with conscripts. They hope a court ruling in their favour will lead to conscription as a whole being abolished ,and have vowed to go all the way to the European Court of Justice if necessary. A date for the hearing is yet to be set.

The open forum at Bermuda College, due to be held on March 15, was organised by the Student Government Council, with both B.A.D and the Regiment invited to participate. According to Mr. Marshall, both Mr. Mussenden, former second-in-command of the Regiment, and Senator Burch, a former Commanding Officer, caused president of the student government Jonathan Martin to cancel the event 48 hours before it was due.

Mr. Marshall further claimed that a scheduled appearance by him and his son Lamont — a B.A.D member — on Sunday’s Jamal Hartman show was cancelled three days in advance, after former Regiment Major and occasional Hott presenter Wayne Smith requested this. However, he pointed out that B.A.D participated in ZBM television’s Youth Talk programme in February with no apparent legal issues arising. Mr. Marshall said he has made several checks with lawyers representing B.A.D, “and they said there’s no gag order in place”.

However, according to Hott 1075 Programme Director Thaao Dill, Hott management cancelled Mr. Marshall’s participation in the Sunday show of its own volition. He said this came about after the Regiment cancelled due to concerns over the pending court action, and Mr. Smith said the radio station might wish to consider this concern too.

“I talked to my boss, and rather than have any legal issues of liability come up, we erred on the side of caution,” said Mr. Dill, adding that this decision was not influenced by Mr. Smith.

“I understand why he he (Mr. Marshall) is upset and hurt,” he said. The programme was aired without participation from anyone involved in the legal action, with Mr. Dill hosting the show in place of Jamal Hartman, who is a member of B.A.D.

Responding to the allegations about the college forum, Mr. Mussenden said he never spoke with Mr. Martin but did direct former college president Charles Green to cancel it. Mr. Mussenden, an attorney, listed the reasons he gave for his decision — taken after discussion with other counsel — as including that the court case is sub judice and parties to it cannot be part of the forum. While he acknowledged that the trial judge, Chief Justice Richard Ground, should be able to ignore the public discussion, he also claimed the Chief Justice had cautioned people against public comment.

The Regiment is not responsible for implementing the conscription process, which is handled by the Defence Department. A Regiment spokesman yesterday declined to comment on Mr. Marshall’s allegations, as did Senator Burch. Student government president Mr. Martin could be reached for comment.