ANTIGUA PM DENIES ROLE IN CHOKSI CASE

Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, has refuted reports accusing him of “plotting” the alleged abduction of fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi, local media said.

“Choksi’s citizenship was unsettled, we respected his legal and constitutional rights as a citizen, and we did nothing to abridge those rights whilst he was on Antiguan and Barbudan soil,” Browne said, according to a report on news website Antigua Newsroom. If Antigua was “desperate” to get rid of Choksi, Browne said, “The better option would have been to have the Indians come here, bring a plane and pack him on the plane and send him back to India.”

The Indian businessman disappeared from Antigua last Sunday and was detained in Dominican on Tuesday.