The following is the full text of Premier Dr. Ewart Brown’s broadcast speech last night addressing the publication of details from a Police report on the Housing Corporation scandal:Fellow Bermudians; residents and friends of Bermuda:

I consider it my duty to speak with you this evening about the publication of serious allegations against me and other named persons, on the front page of today’s Mid Ocean News. Today is one of the darkest days for journalism in Bermuda.

The lurid treatment the newspaper gave those allegations, calculatedly ignored the fact that the very investigation referenced by the Mid Ocean News completely exonerates me of any unlawful act. This information, however, was relegated to a minor position, on Page Eighteen in the second section of the newspaper. The same report confirms that the investigation found no basis on which to lay any charge against the members of the Bermuda Government whose reputations were shredded by those involved in the conspiracy that culminated in the sensationalism of the report in the Mid Ocean News.

The publication of material purported to be extracted from confidential official files of a criminal investigation, establishes blatant malice in intent and raises profoundly serious questions about the means by which the newspaper came into possession of documents to which only a limited number officials had access. The conclusion that the scurrilous scandalisation of elected officials in today’s Mid Ocean News is a politically linked conspiracy involving high offices, is close to inescapable.

Given all relevant circumstances, the Honourable Attorney General today wrote to the Deputy Governor of Bermuda requesting an immediate and in-depth investigation of the circumstances by which documents restricted to a limited number of officials were made available to the Mid Ocean News. I have sought counsel’s advice on the legal options available to me in response to the scurrilous use of the information in today’s Mid Ocean News.

Prior to today’s defamatory publication in the Mid Ocean News, I had raised directly with the Governor of Bermuda, the issue of the security of the files of the BHC investigation.

We know, now, that reference to the Governor did nothing to protect elected representatives of the Bermudian people from the character assassination carried out by conspirators who must be flushed out and called to account for their vile and unlawful actions. I take this opportunity to again call upon the Governor to discharge the responsibility of his office, by taking swift and meaningful action against the perpetrators of this nefarious scheme.

He must see this as his obligation. Should he fail to do this, the constitutionally elected Government of Bermuda will lose confidence in the current Governor. In that event, we will have no choice but to suspend further business with him.

On a personal note, I give my fellow Bermudians the assurance that my professional practice and my business interests have long provided me quite adequately with the means to live in relative comfort.

I am blessed with the good fortune of being married to a businesswoman of independent income. I have absolutely no need to seek to improve my net worth by any questionable actions. I deserve to be given credit for being sensible enough to keep my hands clean and my character beyond question.

Still, the attempt to assassinate my character is painful to my wife and to our relatives; as it must be to others affected by this savage assault. I am, nonetheless, grateful to the countless persons who contacted my family today to express their outrage at the outrage that has been committed against me and my colleagues. Such injustices should not come with the job I am doing, but I do not doubt that they will continue, and indeed intensify.

I knew that from the beginning. However, I will continue to use all the resources of the Government to improve the lives of all in Bermuda.

I remain unbroken and unbowed. Thank you. May God bless you and your loved ones.