ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 50 CENTS – MONDAY FEBRUARY 19, 2018 High of 86 Low of 76 Seas: Rough with wave heights of 4 to 6 feet. Small craft should exercise caution over open water. EDITORIAL | PAGE 4 ROAD WARRIOR: A TRUE STORY TOO STRANGE FOR FICTION LOCAL | PAGE 5 CAYMANIAN TEENAGER ATTENDING TOP TENNIS ACADEMY IN FLORIDA SEVEN MILE BEACH WATERFRONT WALKERS ROAD TOWN CENTRE PLAZA RED BAY NOW AVAILABLE OR New homes and retail plaza approved JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Plans for a $25 million plaza on West Bay Road, fea- turing a mix of shops, restau- rants and apartments have been approved by the Central Plan- ning Authority. The Grove will feature six buildings surrounding a landscaped park and court- yard, according to architect Robert Johnson. The ground floor will be for retail outlets, cafes and restau- rants with the top floor reserved for apartments. Mr. Johnson said the project would give business owners the opportunity to own their own property. “It is a high-end, class A de- velopment, which will at the end of the day generate $55 mil- lion for the local economy and Fleet review planned as a send-off for Gov. Kilpatrick Possibly the first fleet review in the Cayman Islands is planned for noon Sat- urday, Feb. 24, at Seven Mile Beach. The event is a farewell to Governor Helen Kilpat- rick, who will complete her tenure as gov- ernor next month. “I don’t believe we’ve done one here,” said Polly Pickering, spokeswoman for the Cayman Islands Sailing Club, which is or- ganizing the review. Another club official, Ben Webster, said he too could not remember any formal fleet re- view in the past. “A few years ago, when Prince Edward came to visit, there were some boats,” Mr. Webster said of the prince’s arrival in 2009. But, he said, it was not technically an or- ganized review. During the parade, Ms. Kilpatrick, who is the honorary president of the sailing club and who will be on a 56-foot catamaran, will salute each participating boat. Skippers will be invited to join in a sunset bon voyage toast to the governor. Ms. Kilpatrick took up the post of governor of the Cayman Islands in early September 2013. Cayman’s new governor, Anwar Choud- hury, will replace her next month. All boats are welcome to participate, Phil Miller and fellow coconut vendors were kept busy Saturday preparing young coconuts for thirsty attendees at the annual Coco Fest at Pedro St. James. Hundreds of residents and visitors descended on the grounds of Pedro Castle to try coconut-based food and drink, crafts, beauty products and much more. This was the third year the festival has been held. Proceeds went to benefit the National Council of Voluntary Organisations. For more on this story, see page 6. – PHOTO: TANEOS RAMSAY Cayman goes nuts for coconuts GRAND COURT REJECTS U.S. LAWSUIT AGAINST BDO CAYMAN KEN SILVA ksilva@pinnaclemedialtd.com Last June, liquidators for the Cayman Is- lands-based hedge fund Argyle Funds SPC filed a lawsuit in the New York Supreme Court against several branches of the auditing firm BDO Ltd., including the one in the Cayman Is- lands. The lawsuit sought at least US$86 mil- lion from BDO for allegedly failing to spot fraud by two of the fund’s credit advisers, costing Argyle millions of dollars and causing it to enter liquidation as a result. However, on Tuesday, Grand Court Justice Raj Parker granted BDO Cayman’s request for an anti-suit injunction against Argyle, re- straining Argyle from continuing the proceed- ings against BDO Cayman in the U.S. BDO Cayman filed the application for an anti-suit injunction last August, and argued at a hearing in January that Argyle’s lawsuit in New York violated its contract with BDO. According to Justice Parker’s judgment, BDO Cayman argued that any disputes between the parties should be settled by a Cayman arbitra- tion tribunal. Argyle attorney Clare Stanley, QC, said the arbitration clauses were unenforceable for a number of reasons, including that Argyle is in supervised liquidation, and that its liquida- tors are not bound by the arbitration clauses. Mr. Parker sided with all of BDO Cayman’s arguments in granting the anti-suit injunction. “The New York proceedings breach the ar- bitration and exclusive jurisdiction agree- ments and the sole recourse clauses con- tained in the engagement letters between BDO Cayman and Argyle,” he wrote in his judg- ment. “To the extent that there is any dis- pute about the meaning of the terms of those agreements or as to the applicability of those terms, if not resolved by the Cayman arbitra- tion tribunal, it is to be resolved exclusively by An architect’s illustration of The Grove, which was granted planning permission last week. PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 »2 LOCAL&REGIONAL MONDAY FEBRUARY 19, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS • Matinees Daily (matinee price before 6pm) • Seniors $8.00, Mon-Fri Before 6pm • Additional charges apply per 3D/VIP tickets Cayman Cinema@cbcinema6cbcinema6 SATURDAY NIGHT: For your viewing pleasure, minors under the age of 18 will not be admitted to any film starting after 6pm, unless accompanied by their parent. - MONDAY - 640-FILM (640-3456) THE 15:17 TO PARIS (PG13) 1:25 VIP I 4:30 I 10:10 VIP MAZE RUNNER: THE DEATH CURE (PG13) 12:25 I 3:30 I 6:35 I 9:40 FIFTY SHADES FREED (R) 1:10 I 3:45 I 7:15 I 10:05 BLACK PANTHER (PG13) 1:25 I 3:50 VIP I 6:50 VIP I 7:00 I 9:45 I 10:00 EARLY MAN (PG) 12:45 I 3:00 I 5:15 I 7:30 JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE (PG13) 1:00 I 4:00 I 7:10 I 9:55 Dr. Wayne R. Porter MD F.A.A.D. Dermatologist call : 946-9020 between 9am to 5pm Dees Plaza #282 on Crewe Road, GT He will be in office from February 15 - February 28, 2018 CLARIFICATION In a story that ran on page 2 on February 16, the headline could be considered misleading. It should have read, “Estella’s murderers get minimum 40 years.” That is the time Kirkland Henry and Larry Prinston Ricketts must serve for the murder of Estella Scott-Roberts before they can apply for release, which can be granted at that time, or later, or not at all. Kimpton celebrates acts of kindness The Kimpton Seafire Re- sort + Spa is giving back to the community as it partic- ipates in a week-long ob- servation of International Random Act of Kindness Day. The spa began treating one customer per day to a luxurious surprise gift on Feb. 15 and will con- tinue the practice through Thursday, Feb. 21. The spa at the Kimpton was named the “Favorite New International Spa” in 2017 by the Professionals’ Choice Awards, spurring the idea to give back to the customers who supported it from the beginning. Emily Gardner, mar- keting manager at the hotel, said, “At Seafire, we’re all about those ‘feel- good vibes,’ particularly in the Spa, so we thought we’d bring the concept to Cayman and commit to one whole week of random acts of kindness.” She added, “As it all began with our resi- dents; this is our oppor- tunity to give back and say thank you.” The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation was founded in the United States in 1995, and it has grown into an internation- ally recognized nonprofit designed to spread kind- ness around the world. Random Acts of Kindness Week is celebrated annu- ally in the second week of February, and this year, it was commemorated in the United States from Feb. 12 to Feb. 18. Random act of kindness recipient Carrie Bodden, right, poses with Kimpton spa manager Rizia Parker. Mexico quake damages homes, but destruction minimal MEXICO CITY (AP) – Mexico escaped major destruction from a magnitude 7.2 earth- quake that jolted southern and central parts of the country, authorities said Sat- urday, though 13 people were killed in the crash of a helicopter sent to as- sess the damage. A national emergency committee that convened after Friday’s quake ad- journed in the afternoon after reporting 200 homes had been damaged, primarily in the southern state of Oaxaca, along with the city hall and main church in the town of Santiago Jamiltepec. Two people sustained broken bones but had been treated in Pinotepa Nacional, Oaxaca, and their lives were not in danger, the Interior De- partment said in a statement. Nearly 1 million cus- tomers were said to have lost power, but service had been restored to 99 percent of them, it added. When the quake struck Friday, Maricarmen Tru- jillo was on the same eighth floor of a Mexico City of- fice building where she rode out a Sept. 19 earthquake that killed 228 people in the capital alone. “I relived a lot of those moments,” Trujillo said, still jittery. This time an emer- gency app on her cellphone gave her a 30-second warning before things started to shake. She stayed in place, but felt more prepared. Scars from a magnitude 8.2 quake Sept. 7 that killed nearly 100 people in Oaxaca and neighboring Chiapas are still fresh, while in Mexico City, wounds from the Sept. 19 quake remain visible. Many buildings left unin- habitable are still awaiting demolition, and people flooded into the streets as the ground seethed Friday. The U.S. Geological Survey originally put the magni- tude of Friday’s quake at 7.5 but later lowered it to 7.2. It said the epicenter was 33 miles northeast of Pinotepa in southern Oaxaca state. It had a depth of 15 miles. USGS seismologist Paul Earle said it appeared not to be an aftershock of the 8.2 temblor on Sept. 7 in Oaxaca. Gladys Barreno Castro, who was at work on the 29th floor of a downtown office building in Mexico City, recog- nized quickly that the shaking was not as violent this time. “It lasted a long time, but it wasn’t as strong,” Barreno said. “I didn’t think that it was going to destroy the city like the last time.” Helicopter on quake mission flips in Mexico, kills 13 on ground MEXICO CITY (AP) – A military helicopter carrying officials who were assessing damage from a powerful earthquake flipped as it was attempting to land in southern Mexico, crashing on top of people who had fled their homes and were spending the night outside. Thirteen people were killed – the only known fa- talities related to the quake – and 16 were injured. No one aboard the heli- copter, including Interior Sec- retary Alfonso Navarrete and Oaxaca Gov. Alejandro Murat, was seriously hurt. Jorge Mo- rales, a local reporter who was aboard the helicopter when it crashed Friday night, described harrowing mo- ments as the pilot lost control and the helicopter attempted to touch down in a swirl of dust in Jamiltepec, a city in Oaxaca state close to the epi- center of the earthquake that struck earlier Friday. “The moment the he- licopter touched down it lost control, it slid – like it skidded – and it hit some vehicles that were parked alongside the area that had been defined for the landing,” Morales told a Mexican tele- vision news program. “In that moment, you couldn’t see anything, nothing else was heard beside the sound that iron makes when it scrapes the earth.” Navarrete told local media that “as the army helicopter we were travelling in tried to land, the pilot lost control, the helicopter fell and flipped.” A state government offi- cial who was not authorized to be quoted by name said the chopper crashed into a group of people who had been spending the night out- side after the 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the area. Af- tershocks, including one of 5.8 magnitude that struck about an hour after the first, had caused people to flee their homes for fear they would collapse. The Oaxaca state prose- cutor’s office said in a state- ment that five women, four men and three children were killed at the crash site and another person died later at a hospital. The Defense Department said the Blackhawk heli- copter crashed as it was pre- paring to land in a vacant lot. The department said the vic- tims had been waiting for the helicopter, but did not pro- vide more details. Navarrete and the defense department said they re- gretted the loss of life. NO, FIDEL CASTRO IS NOT CANADA PM TRUDEAU’S FATHER (AP) – A story claiming that Fidel Castro was the father of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is not true. The Canadian government denied it, Cuba has never claimed it and Trudeau’s par- ents never visited Cuba until several years after Justin Trudeau was born. The Feb. 1 suicide of Castro’s oldest son, Fi- delito, spurred the most re- cent report on several sites, claiming that Fidelito left a suicide note referring to Justin Trudeau as his half- brother. A theory that Castro was Trudeau’s father was also shared widely on so- cial media after Castro’s death in 2016, when Trudeau caused an uproar over re- marks praising the late Cuban leader. The Canadian govern- ment denied the reports this week. Justin Trudeau was born on Dec. 25, 1971, to the late Canadian Prime Min- ister Pierre Trudeau and his wife, Margaret. Trudeau was born a little more than nine months after the marriage of his parents and more than four years be- fore Margaret made a much- publicized first trip to Cuba and met Fidel Castro. Mar- garet was 22 when she mar- ried the 51-year-old prime minister and was the subject of intense media scrutiny. Ex- perts say it would have been impossible for an earlier visit to Cuba to go unnoticed. Cuban media have been unusually open about the death of Castro’s oldest son, Fidelito, describing it as a suicide after a long depres- sion. Neither state media nor independent reporters covering the death have re- ported the existence of a suicide note. Two people sustained broken bones but had been treated in Pinotepa Nacional, Oaxaca, and their lives were not in danger.3 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • MONDAY FEBRUARY 19, 2018 C M Y CM MY CY CMY K A excellent drafts Final letter sized.pdf 2 02/10/2015 11:57 C M Y CM MY CY CMY K A excellent drafts Final letter sized.pdf 2 02/10/2015 11:57 ...IN THE CARIBBEAN Rated A (Excellent) at A.M. Best Company Anguilla • Antigua & Barbuda • Ascension Island • Barbados • Cayman Islands • Dominica • Falkland Islands • Grenada • Montserrat • St. Kitts & Nevis • St. Lucia • St. Maarten • St. Vincent & The Grenadines • The British Virgin Islands • Turks & Caicos #203 Alissta Towers, 85 North Sound Road, Grand Cayman KY1-1109. 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Home • Contents • Motor • Liability • Business • Marine Jail for gross indecency with child Man threatened to kill girl’s mother if she told CAROL WINKER cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Devon Alanzo Stewart was sentenced on Thursday to four years and nine months in prison after being found guilty of gross inde- cency with a 7-year-old girl. Mr. Stewart had chosen to be tried by judge alone and Justice Timothy Owen deliv- ered his guilty verdict last September, remanding the defendant in custody. Sen- tencing was adjourned until November for a social in- quiry report and victim im- pact report, but then could not take place. Last week, Justice Owen handed down the sentence via a video link from the U.K. He noted that the max- imum sentence penalty for gross indecency is 12 years. Sentencing guidelines indi- cate a starting point of five years with a sentencing range of three to eight years, the maximum possible sentence being for the worst possible offense. Justice Owen said this case involved the inflic- tion of serious psychological and physical harm by a man who had been trusted by the family concerned. The man threatened to kill the girl’s mother if she told anyone. She did not tell, until days later. It came to light when the girl’s mother went to bathe her and the child complained of pain. The mother took her to the hos- pital, where the girl told a nurse what had happened. The nurse told the mother and police were contacted. Meanwhile, a doctor con- firmed that the girl had a sex- ually transmitted infection and the appropriate treat- ment was administered. Six days before he touched the girl, Mr. Stewart had been diagnosed with that same in- fection. In finding the defen- dant guilty, Justice Owen said the medical evidence was “ex- tremely strong corroboration” of the girl’s account. He found no credible basis for under- mining the girl’s evidence and said it would be an extraor- dinary coincidence that the person she accused was, in fact, infected. A victim impact report in- dicated that the girl appeared to have been greatly affected by what had happened, the judge said. She was unable to put into words how she felt. At first she cried constantly, reacting non-verbally. Re- cently she has shown some improvement but shows some signs of distress when the incident is mentioned. The judge said she appeared to have suffered serious psy- chological trauma. He told the defendant he was taking into account the precise nature of the sexual assault, noting that it happened only once. “The threat to kill her mother was an integral aspect of the abuse,” he said. Mr. Stewart’s own back- ground included a trou- bled childhood, but there was no mitigation in that factor because he continued to maintain that he was wrongly convicted. Moreover, the judge pointed out, at the time of this offense he had been on bail for an alleged sim- ilar offense involving a dif- ferent child. In that ear- lier case he was found not guilty. Therefore, at the time of his sentencing, he was a man with no previous con- victions. The judge took into account his age, now 58, and gave him a slight deduction, starting at five years and re- ducing that sentence to four years nine months. Justice Owen discussed with Crown counsel Greg Walcolm, who had pros- ecuted the case, and de- fense attorney Alex Davies whether he should impose a Sexual Offense Prevention Order. Mr. Walcolm advised that only one such order has been made in Cayman since the provision went into ef- fect. Mr. Davies expressed reservation on the basis of enforceability, since Mr. Stewart intended to establish contact with his “somewhat estranged family in Jamaica, policing that might be diffi- cult,” the attorney noted. The judge said he would adjourn this aspect of the case until he received fur- ther submissions from both counsel. MEETING TO DEBATE EAST END MENTAL HEALTH FACILITY TAD STONER tstoner@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Ministry of Health will convene a public meeting at the East End Civic Centre on Wednesday night, Feb. 21, to discuss the district’s new mental health facility. The 7-9 p.m. gathering will feature representa- tives from the ministry, in- cluding Chief Officer Jennifer Ahearn; East End MLA Arden McLean; from Toronto design firm, Montgomery Sisam Ar- chitects; from local consul- tant and design firm DDL Stu- dios; members of the project’s 14-seat Steering Committee; and of the 10-member Mental Health Commission. “This is an open house/ public meeting and there will be no formal presen- tations,” said Janett Flynn, the ministry’s senior policy adviser for health, and a member of both the committee and commission. “The open-house/meeting is being planned to inform and educate the public and to hear their concerns, if any,” she said. “[The meeting is] also to inform residents of the development of a major project that will benefit our people/commu- nity, to be undertaken by the Cayman Islands government.” “We expect persons from the community and other interested persons to at- tend,” she added. She said the “construction timeline and planned opening in 2019 will be addressed – as well as any other concerns.” Construction of the 15- acre, nine-cottage, 54-patient facility near High Rock is scheduled to start in August, opening in summer 2019. Of- ficials have estimated building costs between $10 million and $15 million. ATTORNEY RECEIVES AWARD FOR PRO BONO WORK Civil litigation and family law attorney Pramod Joshi has received the 2017 Lee A. Freeman service award from the Family Resource Centre. A Family Resource Centre announcement states that Mr. Joshi served a total of 78 volunteer hours last year for the Family Resource Cen- tre’s “legal befrienders ser- vice,” which provides free and confidential legal advice to those in need. In 2016 Mr. Joshi, a former chairman of the U.K.’s Hindu Lawyers Association, joined legal befrienders following a brief probationary period. Mr. Joshi said been drawn to the service as he had done similar work in the U.K. in the 1990s. The Family Resource Cen- tre’s programs coordinator, Charmaine Miller, said Mr. Joshi is “an exemplary vol- unteer and a well-respected lawyer by his peers.” “Throughout his service, he has demonstrated pas- sion, selflessness, and com- mitment in serving those in crisis,” she added. Health Minister Dwayne Seymour also commended Mr. Joshi for his service. “Like the Good Samaritan, he helps those in need,” said Mr. Seymour. “I hope his vol- unteerism with the legal be- frienders will inspire others to sign-up for voluntary work. We have many wonderful clubs and organizations of- fering a wide range of volun- tary work locally and I en- courage everyone to give back.” Mr. Joshi said he is “deeply humbled” to receive the award, which was created in recognition of the late Lee A. Freeman, who the Family Resource Centre called a “stalwart volunteer.” “New volunteers are always welcome and I encourage more lawyers to sign up to give a few hours of pro bono assistance a month,” he said. The Family Resource Centre also acknowledged volunteer Moesha Ramsay- Howell, whose role is to assist clients in the pre- screening process before re- ceiving legal advice. Ms. Ramsay-Howell was the 2017 Lay Volunteer award recipient. Other volun- teers that have also assisted throughout the years received certificates of appreciation for their dedication and con- tributions to the service. The legal befrienders ser- vice is offered weekly to indi- viduals and families requiring legal advice regarding issues that include, but are not lim- ited to domestic violence, child custody, work-related matters or immigration issues. For further information about joining the legal befrienders service or to book an appointment, contact the Family Resource Centre at 949-0006. Attorney Pramod Joshi receives the 2017 Lee A. Freeman service award from the Family Resource Center for his pro bono legal work. The Cayman Islands Court Building in downtown George Town.The islands’ most-trusted news source 4 – EDITORIAL – Opinion&Letters The Cayman Compass welcomes comments, opinions and viewpoints from readers. Letters to the editor can be emailed to editor@pinnaclemedialtd.com, submitted via www.caymancompass.com, sent by post or hand-delivered to the Compass office. The oppressive and illogical bureaucracies rendered in fiction by Bohemian writer Franz Kafka were so memorable and unique they earned their own adjec- tive: Kafkaesque. That is the only word that comes close to describing the bizarre set of circumstances described in last week’s Cayman Compass of a Caymanian man dragged to court – twice – to answer for a parking violation alleg- edly committed by someone he had never met. Bodden Town resident Windell Scott’s story would be called “too strange” were it rendered in fiction. It all began a year ago, when Mr. Scott was called to report to the Bodden Town Police Station to discuss a ticket that had been issued to his vehicle. When he arrived, he was told he was wanted for parking in a disabled space at the Foster’s Food Fair airport store in October, the previous year. Mr. Scott told the Compass he was shocked and puzzled by the allegations – that parking in a handi- capped spot is something he simply would not do. When he asked for details about the incident – when it had occurred, the make and model of the vehicle, etc., – he says police did not immediately have that information. A few days later, police called him to the Fairbanks police detention facility, where he was asked to give fingerprints, a mug shot and a DNA sample. When he refused, police escorted him to the courthouse where, for the first time, he learned the details of his alleged crime. He learned the vehicle that had been ticketed was, in actuality, the black Toyota Windom that had previously belonged to his youngest son, who had sold it the year before – a fact confirmed by Depart- ment of Vehicle and Drivers’ Licensing records. But because the records had not been signed by the new owner, the magistrate told Mr. Scott he still was legally responsible for the car. He was ordered to reappear in court after two weeks. Let us pause briefly to consider the DVDL’s rules for transferring a vehicle, which require buyer and seller to go together to the DVDL offices to ensure the process is completed (after waiting heaven knows how long for their turn in the agency’s infamous infernally long queues). In actuality, no one has enough time (or patience) for such an exercise. Rather they, like Mr. Scott’s son did, sign over the vehicle and cross fingers, hoping the buyer follows through. So, as the car’s “legal owner” (or so he had been told), Mr. Scott enlisted the help of his relatives in trying to find the car and its driver. When they found him, outside Cox Lumber in Bodden Town, they blocked him in and called police, who came and arrested the man, but released him on bail the same day. Two days later, one of Mr. Scott’s relatives again saw the man driving the car, and again blocked him in. Again, he was arrested and released. Police said they had no choice but to return the vehicle to the driver – even though he had no Cayman license, no current sticker and no insurance, not to mention that ticket for illegal parking – because … he was the lawful owner. Ultimately, the story came together as it should have from the beginning: The court dropped charges against Mr. Scott; the new (and true) owner was charged for his various failures to adhere to the driving code. But the “moral” of the story is as twisted and inverted as one gleaned from any gothic tale. The upright man attempts to work within the system only to be treated like a criminal, forced not only to prove his innocence but also to solve the crime. Meanwhile, the scofflaw roams free (at least for a time) while police are left chasing their tails …. And for what? Illegal parking? Road warrior: A true story too strange for fiction MONDAY FEBRUARY 19, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS LA’s mayor deserves a presidential hearing LOS ANGELES – It was dicey being Jewish in a Russia that was tolerant of pogroms, and then came the threat of con- scription into the 1904-05 Russo-Japanese War, so one of Mayor Eric Garcetti’s great-grandfathers headed West to America. Another Garcetti great-grandfather married a Mexican woman who, fleeing revolutionary ferment there, headed north to America. Which is why Garcetti, a fourth-generation resident of the world’s most polyglot city, is as American as a kosher burrito, a deli- cacy available at Mexikosher on Pico Boulevard. Trim, natty – colorful socks are, alas, fashionable – and with the polish of one born to public attention (his father Gil was LA’s district attorney who prosecuted O.J. Simpson), Garcetti, like dozens of Dem- ocrats who have noticed re- cent presidential history, is asking: Why not me? Good question. Although presidents Andrew Johnson, Grover Cleveland and Calvin Coolidge had been mayors of Greenville, Tennessee, Buf- falo and Northampton, Mas- sachusetts, respectively, no mayor has gone directly from a city hall to the White House. But the 44th president came from eight years in the nation’s most docile and least admirable state legislature (Barack Obama effectively began running for presi- dent as soon as he escaped to Washington from Spring- field, Illinois). The 45th came from six bankruptcies and an excruciating television show. So, it is not eccentric to think that a two-term mayor of one of the world’s most compli- cated cities might be as qual- ified to be president as was, say, the governor of one of the 23 states (Arkansas) with a population smaller than this city’s. And less challenging: LA’s schools teach children whose parents speak Tagalog and 91 other languages. Recent history does not suggest that America has such a surplus of presiden- tial talent that it can afford to spurn an audition by a mayor who governs where over 40 percent of waterborne imports enter the country – through the LA and Long Beach ports. Where more than 50 percent of residents are immigrants or the children of immigrants. Where immi- grants from more than 30 nations form those nations’ largest overseas communities. His immersion in immi- gration realities gives him standing to warn his party, which is addicted to iden- tity politics, that “people do want a national identity.” We are “not an ethnic nation but a civic nation,” and Demo- crats must speak to “identity” rather than “identities.” Also, he brings practicality to the ideological argument about “sanctuary cities”: When a Korean immigrant who be- came a citizen and then an LA cop was shot, not fatally, witnesses and others in the neighborhood, many of them likely illegal immigrants, came forward with infor- mation that enabled the po- lice to capture her assailant within hours. Such police- community cooperation is, Garcetti says, jeopardized when local police are viewed as closely allied with federal immigration enforcement. Garcetti, 47, is a genera- tion younger than some pro- gressives’ pinups (Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Joe Biden). And living far from Washington, he is posi- tioned to deplore the Beltway, within which his party has been concentrating power for a century. He suggests a rule for those who are perpetually enraged about the president: “You only get five minutes a day to yell at your TV” Dem- ocrats, he says, sometimes are “the smarty-pants party” that does not “speak plain English.” He seems, how- ever, to be tiptoeing on egg shells when trying to avoid offending his party’s easily offended keepers of litmus tests. When, last September, an interviewer asked him if gun manufacturers should be liable for the misuse of their products, he said, “I think you have to be open to that.” Such mush (should we be “open to” distillers’ liability for drunken driving?) does not move nominating electorates. New York’s mayor (1933- 1945) Fiorello La Guardia, a Republican in a Democratic city, famously said, “There is no Republican or Dem- ocratic way to pick up the garbage.” And mayors have what Garcetti considers “the luxury of doing.” But LA mayors are not powerful – the schools are run by others – and he must get along with the mayors of 87 other cities in LA county. This is, how- ever, training for the presi- dency, which is less powerful than those who seek it think it is until, in office, they must deal with Washington’s rival power centers. California’s presidential primary, which usually has been a June irrelevancy, will occur in March 2020. This might benefit Kamala Harris, the state’s freshman U.S. sen- ator, too. Anyway, Garcetti deserves a hearing. America could do worse, it usually does and in 33 months it probably will. George Will’s email address is georgewill@washpost.com. © 2018, Washington Post Writers Group. GEORGE F. WILL GEORGE PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY: Caymanian Compass Limited (a subsidiary of Pinnacle Media Ltd) Compass Centre Shedden Road, George Town SEND US YOUR VIEWS OR NEWS: P.O. Box 1365 Grand Cayman KY1-1108, Cayman Islands Telephone: (345) 815-0095 Email: newsdesk@pinnaclemedialtd.com ADVERTISE WITH US: Telephone: (345) 949-5111 Email: sales@pinnaclemedialtd.com Website: www.caymancompass.com PUBLISHERS DAVID R. LEGGE AND VICKI L. LEGGE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF DAVID R. LEGGE EXECUTIVE EDITOR PATRICK BRENDEL A MEMBER OF THE INTER-AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION “Give light and the people will find their own way”5 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • MONDAY FEBRUARY 19, 2018 SAVE THE DATE The Ministry and Department of Tourism Invites You To Talk Tourism at Community Meetings in Your District Join us to help celebrate the record breaking success in Tourism for 2017 and hear more on what’s to come. Complimentary refreshments and door prizes at each meeting. GRAND CAYMAN BODDEN TOWN Wednesday, 21 February Bodden Town Civic Centre 6 p.m. NORTH SIDE Monday, 12 March Clifton Hunter High School Auditorium 6 p.m. EAST END Thursday, 1 March East End Civic Centre on John McLean Drive 6 p.m. GEORGE TOWN Wednesday, 28 February Mary Miller Hall 6 p.m. WEST BAY Tuesday, 13 March Sir John A. Cumber Primary School Hall 6 p.m. Caymanian teenager attending top tennis academy in Florida Seventeen-year-old Jade Wilkinson has accepted a partial scholarship to IMG in Florida, one of the world’s top tennis academies. “Jade’s scholarship is a big moment for Cayman tennis, a game changer,” said Susan Lindsay, president of the Tennis Federation of the Cayman Islands. “It is proof that if a young player works hard enough, it is possible to pursue a tennis career in the U.S. straight from Cayman. “The whole tennis com- munity is delighted with this result, it confirms we’re get- ting many things right, that we have a good structure.” Jade, Cayman’s top female junior tennis player, started her new life of intensive training at the Florida sports academy early last month. IMG specializes in training young athletes for the pro- fessional worlds of nu- merous sports beside tennis, including basketball, soccer and lacrosse. This is the first time a Caymanian youngster has been offered an IMG tennis scholarship, and a major achievement for the young tennis champion. “IMG is a Mecca for as- piring athletes, and schol- arships to this prestigious academy are rare and hard to come by,” said Dale Avery, one of Jade’s Cayman coaches. Former Cayman Prep and High School pupil Jade has set a benchmark to which other junior players can now realistically aspire, noted Ms. Lindsay. “They can set their sights on a tennis academy as a way to get into U.S. college tennis, or as a stepping stone to joining the pro circuit. Jade has shown the way.” Jade, whose younger sister, Willow, is also skilled with a racquet, started playing tennis when she was just 7 years old, taking a weekly lesson with her preschool teacher. “I enjoyed the sport,” said Jade, “so my Mum took me to the Cayman Islands Tennis Club to join in a group lesson. I sat on the side of the court refusing to join in with a group of boys that didn’t seem to want to play with a girl. Finally after four weeks, I joined in and haven’t looked back since.” Jade is already enjoying life at IMG, where there are more than 1,000 sports stu- dents. “I miss Cayman,” she said, “but I have settled in quickly and I am enjoying my time here on and off the court, from school to tennis to campus life.” “The end goal,” she noted, “is to play collegiate tennis at a highly ranked school, and so I am working hard at IMG Academy to make this happen.” At the IMG Bollettieri Tennis Academy, as it is for- mally known, Jade will be able to compete in a va- riety of tournaments, more than she could here on is- land, as well as practice and play against many girls at her level and above. The academy has 55 courts, and former students include such tennis greats as Andre Agassi, Monica Seles, Maria Sharapova and Kei Nishikori. Red Ayme, who took Tommy Haas to No. 2 in the world rankings, leads a team of four coaches who work with Jade daily, noted Margie Zesinger, director of IMG’s fe- male tennis program. Ms. Zesinger is already a big fan of Jade: “She’s a great girl; very, very positive. Her energy, determination and drive are extremely high. She has adjusted to being here so well, and the girls all love her – not just the tennis girls but across all the sports.” CITC’s Adam Bayley was Jade’s first coach back in 2008. She stuck with him until he left Grand Cayman in 2015. Since then, numerous local coaches have played a role in her development, including Uli Hoppe, Dana Parziale and the team at The Ritz-Carlton; Ilian Nachev at the Cayman Islands Tennis Club in South Sound; and former profes- sional player Yana Koroleva at Cayman Sports. Former CITC manager Rob Seward took her and other ju- niors to tournaments in Ja- maica, and the club’s Dale Avery also played his part, for several years leading the weekly group practice ses- sions for the top juniors. “And then,” said Jade’s mother, LaRene, “arrived the little angel from heaven, the coach that came down to fill in at the Ritz who just hap- pened to have been one of her coaches from her summer camp at IMG last year. Peter Van Lieshout got the ball rolling in regards to her second visit to IMG in No- vember 2017 and, with ad- ditional help from Thomas Neuert (former director of tennis at the Ritz), things fell into place from there.” Jade’s coaches have always remarked on her strong work ethic. “When it comes to my education and tennis, I always try to be the hardest worker at school and on the court,” Jade said. “I arrive early, make sure I have everything I need for class and practice, and I listen to the teachers and coaches. I have a passion for learning and tennis, as well as a competitive spirit and a positive attitude. As it turns out, these are the qualities the IMG coaches are looking for in their student-athletes. So it turns out to be a win-win for me and IMG.” She added, “Being at IMG shows that Cayman has good coaching and if you work hard and play all the tournaments available, and also arrange as many matches as possible, then you can get good enough to achieve greater things. So, me being at IMG means a lot for Cayman tennis. It shows that even though Cayman is small, anything is possible.” Jade Wilkinson, center, with Coach Red Ayme and Head of Female Tennis Margie Zesinger at the IMG Academy. “The end goal is to play collegiate tennis at a highly ranked school, and so I am working hard at IMG Academy to make this happen.” JADE WILKINSON POLICE IDENTIFY VICTIM OF SNORKELING ACCIDENT Police confirmed the iden- tity of an American tourist Friday who died after expe- riencing complications while snorkeling off Seven Mile Beach on Feb. 5, as Richard Collins Fitzpatrick, 72. The 911 Communications Centre dispatched police and emergency personnel to aid Mr. Fitzpatrick shortly after 12:15 p.m. He was brought to the shore by members of the public who began to admin- ister CPR, and emergency per- sonnel arrived and continued life-saving measures. Mr. Fitz- patrick was taken to Cayman Islands Hospital where he was later pronounced dead. WOMAN ARRESTED ON SUSPICION OF ASSAULT Police arrested a 39-year- old woman on suspicion of assault causing grievous bodily harm Friday. Officers responded to a 911 call shortly after 1:40 a.m. to Birch Tree Hill Road in West Bay, where a woman had been stabbed by another woman who was known to her. The victim was trans- ported to the Cayman Islands Hospital where she received multiple stitches before being released. It was not known at press time whether the suspect has been formally charged.6 LOCAL NEWS MONDAY FEBRUARY 19, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS Cayman goes nuts for coconuts JEWEL LEVY jlevy@pinnaclemedialtd.com For the past three years, on the weekend after Ash Wednesday, residents and visitors look forward to at- tending the annual Coco Fest at Pedro St. James, and this year was no exception. Hundreds of residents and visitors traveled to the castle to enjoy the best in coconut-based cuisine, along with a variety of local arts and crafts. This year, the festival helped raise funds for the National Council of Voluntary Organisations’ Nadine An- dreas Children’s Foster Home. Pedro Castle manager Debbie Bodden said of Coco Fest: “It’s for a great cause this year. This is the most vendors we’ve had and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger each year.” The festival celebrates all things coconut, with a vast array of stalls selling or fea- turing coconut water, co- conut milk, coconut oil and even coconut flowers, as well as plenty of coconut- based food, crafts, games and beauty products. Among the stalls were Is- land Taste offering coconut curry chicken, Carol Braggs’s “floppy bubby” jello, Yolanni’s “coco loco,” Powder Monkey’s coconut rum-infused marsh- mallows, Carmen Conolly’s coconut tarts and coconut custard-top corn bread. Ms. Braggs’s “Sweet As Can Be” toasted-top coconut pound cake won first place in the Coconut Cake Competi- tion, in which Taste This Life took second and Zelma Lee Ebanks’s coconut concoction took third place. Attendees were treated to cooking dem- onstrations and tastings from some of the islands’ co- conut aficionados. Some tables were stocked with several coconut hair- and-face products, while others offered coconut ice cream or had piles of inter- twined coconut leaves fash- ioned into place mats. There was also a booth featuring young coconuts, ready to be chopped open and their co- conut water paired with Seven Fathoms coconut rum. Another stall highlighted the many uses of coconut oil. During the day, the doc- umentary “Bright Spot,” by filmmaker Rob Tyler and ho- listic nutritionist Tamer So- liman, was shown. It focuses on re-embracing the tradi- tional Cayman practice of using coconut oil. Over at the Visual Arts So- ciety booths, young visitors enjoyed a creative kids co- conut corner, while members of the society showed off their artwork and photographs. The Coconut Festival pays homage to Cayman’s cultural history. While the use of co- conuts in Cayman remains relatively popular today, the nuts have been a mainstay of the Caymanian diet and life for many decades. Years ago, coconut was used to flavor anything and everything, from coconut rice and beans to rich cassava cakes, break- fast porridge, dumplings and fry fish. Many stalls celebrating all things coconut ring the ground at Pedro St. James on Saturday. - PHOTOS: TANEOS RAMSAY Carol Braggs, who won the Coconut Cake Competition, shows off her trophy.Karyll Iton and Nahja Iton enjoy a day out at Coco Fest on Saturday. Lazarus Moraes at the ‘I Love Coconut’ stall. Elsa Edwards of the Wreck View Art Gallery displays some coconut-inspired artworks. Anna Willis and Mona Meade from the National Council of Voluntary Organisations. Proceeds from the Coco Fest benefit the NCVO this year. Rum and coconuts: Moises Sevilla and Katie Scobie of Cayman SpiritsThe islands’ most-trusted news source 7 CAYMAN COMPASS • MONDAY FEBRUARY 19, 2018 DRIVE THRU OPEN LATE FRIDAYS AND SATURDAYS Now serving you from 2 locations: Savannah and Seven Mile Beach Smoky BACON POTATO Smoky BACON CHEESEBURGER POTATO . COMBO . SANDWICH . L IM I T E D TIME ONLY Upgrade ANY combo . © 2017 Quality Is Our Recipe, LLC SMOKY MUSHROOM BACON CHEESEBURGER CONTAINS EGG, MILK, AND WHEAT. FRIED ONION TANGLERS ARE COOKED IN THE SAME OIL AS MENU ITEMS THAT CONTAIN FISH. SMOKY MUSHROOM BACON POTATO CONTAINS MILK AND SOY. Fleet review planned as a send-off for Governor Kilpatrick but are being asked to reg- ister ahead of time. Registra- tion is free but participants must go online to record their vessel’s information at www.CaymanFleetReview.com, or call 526-4500. Registrants will be sent a brief instruc- tion leaflet reminding them of right of way rules and in- dicating the procession route from the Kimpton hotel to the Marriott hotel. All vessels will be in- vited to join a happy hour event at 3 p.m. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 simultaneously give good local businesses an opportunity to own rather than rent from a landlord,” he told the Central Planning Authority board at its February meeting. The application was ap- proved despite objections from neighboring residents in the beachfront condos The Great House, Plantana and Avalon, opposite the site for the new development. Concerns raised range from traffic and noise pol- lution to a predicted in- crease in crime as a result of the development. Mr. Johnson says the new development, which fea- tures space for 58 apartments and 35 businesses, is a good model for future develop- ment in Cayman. He believes the mix of homes and retail in the same plaza will be the template for growth on the island because it maximizes space and re- duces dependence on cars. “This mixed-use arrange- ment reduces the dependence on the automobile, lessens urban sprawl and is the stuff that promotes community,” he said. “There’s a reason why this is the model for Camana Bay and you’ll see the con- cept spread on the land side of West Bay Road as it fills out in coming years, within this neighborhood com- mercial zone.” He said it would be good for the residents at condo developments on the other side of the road too, bringing new amenities. A sampling of the com- plaints from residents in those developments suggests they do not share this view. Several wrote to the Cen- tral Planning Authority citing fears that the apartments en- visaged were small and likely to attract temporary or “tran- sient workers.” One complainant wrote, “We originally bought with the aim of having an exclu- sive beach condo, with sim- ilar neighbors to ourselves. “We would like any devel- opment to help with making the Cayman Islands a better place, rather than gravitating to the lowest common de- nominator and having small condos with temporary workers in them.” Mr. Johnson told the plan- ning authority last week that The Grove would be a “high-end” development nes- tled within a “lush, heavily landscaped park.” He said, “These apart- ments sell for over $700 a square foot, which is more than the Great House, Plan- tana or the Avalon beach condos who are objecting across the road. “The residential com- ponent of this project very much satisfies a gap in the real-estate market for high- end housing, which is proven by the project being over 50 percent sold.” He said the retail and restaurant space was also selling well with “well-estab- lished local retailers and res- taurant owners.” Addressing another concern raised by residents, he said the busi- nesses would be “family friendly” and would not in- clude any nightclubs or bars. “We’ve studied the sur- rounding area and not only is The Grove consistent with the neighborhood but we will improve on it,” he said. “It is important to provide people with space, and so we’ve pro- vided a very generous public green area for tourists, lo- cals, and families …. This is a public amenity or a park for people to enjoy. The Grove has more dedicated green space per square foot of buildings than Camana Bay.” this court and in accordance with Cayman law.” Mr. Parker’s judgment also notes that BDO disputes the allegations in Argyle’s New York lawsuit, which claims that the auditing firm “acted with utter disregard for their duties to Argyle and with such extreme reckless- ness that their conduct rises to the level of gross negli- gence and/or intentional and fraudulent misconduct.” Argyle’s claim form de- tails frauds allegedly per- petrated against it by credit advisers hired to build in- vestment portfolios. According to Argyle’s claim form, one credit ad- viser represented to Argyle that it had grown the fund’s US$54 million investment to some US$200 million be- tween 2006 and 2011. However, the credit ad- viser instead used Argyle’s money “to extend large loans to already bankrupt compa- nies, such as Death Row Re- cords record label and a de- funct dried fruit company – entities that are deemed high risk, as the likelihood of ever recovering that in- vestment, let alone making a profit from it, is incredibly low,” the claim form states. When the credit adviser was discovered to be a scam around 2012, Argyle sued it in the Canadian courts and won a judgment against it. However, as of this month, Argyle has yet to collect an outstanding claim of about US$40 million from the de- funct adviser, according to the fund’s claim form. Addi- tionally, fraud on the part of another credit adviser was not discovered until 2016. Argyle could have avoided being defrauded if BDO did not “rubber stamp” audit reports on the credit advisors, the fund claims. Grand Court rejects US lawsuit against BDO Cayman CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 “The New York proceedings breach the arbitration and exclusive jurisdiction agreements and the sole recourse clauses contained in the engagement letters between BDO Cayman and Argyle.” GRAND COURT JUSTICE RAJ PARKER An architect’s illustration of The Grove, a $25 million development planned for West Bay Road. New homes and retail plaza approved CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 “It is a high-end, class A development, which will at the end of the day generate $55 million for the local economy and simultaneously give good local businesses an opportunity to own rather than rent from a landlord.” ROBERT JOHNSON, architect, The Grove Governor Helen Kilpatrick attends the swearing in ceremony for new MLAs at the Legislative Assembly in May last year. – PHOTO: TANEOS RAMSAYThe islands’ most-trusted news source 8 MONDAY FEBRUARY 19, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS Pistorius prosecutor sets sights on Zuma Gerrie Nel, the former South African state prosecutor who led the case against convicted murderer Oscar Pistorius, is preparing to take legal action against ex-president Jacob Zuma if state prosecutors do not bring charges for alleged corruption in an arms deal during the 1990s. Mueller charges Russians with meddling in 2016 race WASHINGTON (AP) – In an ex- traordinary indictment, the U.S. special counsel has ac- cused 13 Russians of an elaborate plot to disrupt the 2016 presidential election, charging them with running a huge but hidden social media trolling campaign aimed in part at helping Republican Donald Trump defeat Demo- crat Hillary Clinton. The federal indictment, brought Friday by special counsel Robert Mueller, rep- resents the most detailed al- legations to date of illegal Russian meddling during the campaign that sent Trump to the White House. It also marks the first criminal charges against Russians be- lieved to have secretly worked to influence the outcome. “As you can see with the FBI indictment, the evidence is now really incontrovertible and available in the public domain” that Moscow inter- fered in the race, Trump’s na- tional security adviser, H.R. McMaster, said Saturday at a conference in Germany. Mo- ments earlier, Russia’s for- eign minister, Sergey Lavrov, speaking through an inter- preter, had dismissed the in- dictment as “just blabber.” The Russian organization was funded by Yevgeny Pr- igozhin, the indictment says. He is a wealthy St. Peters- burg businessman with ties to the Russian government and President Vladimir Putin. Trump quickly claimed vindication Friday, noting in a tweet that the alleged in- terference efforts began in 2014 – “long before I an- nounced that I would run for President.” “The results of the election were not im- pacted. The Trump campaign did nothing wrong – no collu- sion!” he tweeted. But the indictment does not resolve the collusion ques- tion at the heart of the con- tinuing Mueller probe, which before Friday had produced charges against four Trump associates. U.S. intelligence agencies have previously said the Russian government in- terfered to benefit Trump, in- cluding by orchestrating the hacking of Democratic emails, and Mueller has been as- sessing whether the campaign coordinated with the Kremlin. The latest indictment does not focus on the hacking but instead centers on a so- cial media propaganda ef- fort that began in 2014 and continued past the election, with the goal of producing distrust in the American po- litical process. Trump him- self has been reluctant to ac- knowledge the interference and any role that it might have played in propelling him to the White House. The indictment does not allege that any American knowingly participated in Russian meddling, or sug- gest that Trump campaign associates had more than “unwitting” contact with some of the defendants who posed as Americans during election season. But it does lay out a vast and wide-ranging Russian ef- fort to sway political opinion in the United States through a strategy that involved cre- ating internet postings in the names of Americans whose identities had been stolen; staging political rallies while posing as American political activists and paying people in the U.S. to promote or dis- parage candidates. While foreign meddling in U.S. campaigns is not new, the indictment for an effort of this scope and digital sophis- tication is unprecedented. “This indictment serves as a reminder that people are not always who they appear to be on the internet,” Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosen- stein said Friday. “The indict- ment alleges that the Russian conspirators want to promote discord in the United States and undermine public confi- dence in democracy. We must not allow them to succeed.” The 13 Russians are not in custody and not likely to ever face trial. The Justice Depart- ment has for years supported indicting foreign defendants in absentia as a way of pub- licly shaming them and ef- fectively barring them from foreign travel. The surreptitious cam- paign was organized by the internet Research Agency, a notorious Russian troll farm that the indictment says sought to conduct “infor- mation warfare against the United States of America.” The company, among three Russian entities named in the indictment, had a mul- timillion-dollar budget and hundreds of workers divided by specialties and assigned to day and night shifts. Ac- cording to prosecutors, the company was funded by companies controlled by Pr- igozhin, the wealthy Russian who has been dubbed “Pu- tin’s chef” because his res- taurants and catering busi- nesses have hosted the Kremlin leader’s dinners with foreign dignitaries. Prigozhin said Friday he was not upset by the indictment. “Americans are very im- pressionable people,” he was quoted as saying by Russia’s state news agency. They “see what they want to see.” Also Friday, Mueller an- nounced a guilty plea from a California man who unwit- tingly sold bank accounts to Russians involved in the in- terference effort. The election-meddling or- ganization, looking to con- ceal its Russian roots, pur- chased space on computer servers within the U.S., used email accounts from U.S. in- ternet service providers and created and controlled social media pages with huge num- bers of followers on divisive issues such as immigration, religion and the Black Lives Matter movement. Starting in April 2016, the indictment says, the Russian agency bought political ads on social media supporting Trump and opposing Clinton without reporting expendi- tures to the Federal Election Commission or registering as foreign agents. Among the ads: “JOIN our #Hillary- ClintonForPrison2016” and “Donald wants to defeat ter- rorism … Hillary wants to sponsor it.” “They engaged in oper- ations primarily intended to communicate deroga- tory information about Hillary Clinton, to deni- grate other candidates such as Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, and to support Bernie Sanders and then-candi- date Donald Trump,” the in- dictment states. Sens. Cruz, R-Texas, and Rubio, R-Fla., ran against Trump in the Republican pri- mary; Sanders, an indepen- dent senator from Vermont, opposed Clinton in the Dem- ocratic primary. The indictment details contacts targeting three un- named officials in the Trump campaign’s Florida opera- tion. In each instance, the Russians used false U.S. per- sonas to contact the officials. The indictment does not say if any of them responded, and there’s no allegation that any of the campaign officials knew they were communi- cating with Russians. Two defendants traveled to the U.S. in June 2014 to gather intelligence on social media sites and identify tar- gets for their operations, the indictment alleges. Following the trip, the group collected further intelligence by con- tacting U.S. political and so- cial media activists while posing as U.S. citizens. They were guided by one con- tact to target “purple states like Colorado, Virginia and Florida,” prosecutors say. The indictment also as- serts that the posts encour- aged minority groups not to vote or to vote for third parties and alleged Demo- cratic voter fraud. Before a Florida rally, the Russians paid one person to build a cage on a flatbed truck and another to wear a costume portraying Clinton in a prison uniform. But they also organized some rallies opposing Trump, including one in New York after the election called “Trump is NOT my president.” The Russians destroyed evidence of their activities as Mueller’s investigation picked up, with one of those indicted sending an email in September 2017 to a family member that said the FBI had “busted” them so they were covering their tracks. That person, Irina Vik- torovna Kaverzina, wrote the family member, “I cre- ated all of these pictures and posts, and the Americans be- lieved that it was written by their people.” Trump seizes on Mueller charge as proof of ‘no collusion’ WASHINGTON (AP) – Presi- dent Donald Trump on Friday seized on what was not in special counsel Robert Muel- ler’s indictment of Russians as evidence that his cam- paign did not collude in Mos- cow’s effort to influence the 2016 election. Mueller’s detailed charges against Russian nationals and companies for election meddling aimed in part at trying to boost Trump’s can- didacy said they cooperated with “unwitting” campaign staffers and outside ad- visers. For the White House, that revelation was a victory, as Mueller has spent nine months probing for poten- tial direct collusion between campaign aides and Rus- sian entities. But Trump’s claim of vin- dication appeared to be un- supported by the indictment and premature, as Muel- ler’s probe has shown no signs of abating. “Russia started their anti-US campaign in 2014, long before I announced that I would run for Presi- dent,” Trump tweeted Friday, two hours after the indict- ment was unveiled. “The re- sults of the election were not impacted. The Trump cam- paign did nothing wrong – no collusion.” White House Press Secre- tary Sarah Sanders followed minutes later with a state- ment echoing the “no collu- sion” claim in capital letters. Trump attorney John Dowd was jubilant in a state- ment of his own, saying, “The only thing I have to say is that I’m very happy for the country and Bob Mueller did a great job.” The cries of vindication appeared to be more show than substance. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who over- sees the Mueller probe, care- fully chose his words Friday as he stated, “There is no alle- gation in the indictment that any American was a knowing participant in the alleged un- lawful activity.” But neither he nor Muel- ler’s office has ruled out any potential collusion in any other plot to disrupt the election. Trump also called for the indictment to mark the end of “outlandish partisan attacks, wild and false allegations, and far-fetched theories” about the election, asserting they “only serve to further the agendas of bad actors, like Russia, and do nothing to protect the principles of our institutions.” “We must unite as Ameri- cans to protect the integrity of our democracy and our elections,” Trump added. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein answers a question after the office of special counsel Robert Mueller announced a grand jury has charged 13 Russian nationals and several Russian entities, Friday, in Washington. – PHOTO: AP9 WORLD&REGIONAL CAYMAN COMPASS • MONDAY FEBRUARY 19, 2018 All 65 aboard plane feared dead in crash in southern Iran TEHRAN, Iran (AP) – An Ira- nian commercial airplane brought back into ser- vice only months ago after being grounded for seven years crashed Sunday in a foggy, mountainous region of southern Iran, and officials said they feared all 65 people on board were killed. The crash of the Aseman Airlines ATR-72 marks yet an- other fatal aviation disaster for Iran, which for years was barred from buying airplane parts for needed mainte- nance due to Western sanc- tions over its contested nu- clear program. Its nuclear accord with world powers allows it to get those parts and the country has made deals worth tens of billions of dollars for new aircraft. However, President Donald Trump’s refusal to re- certify the deal has injected uncertainty into those sales while Iranians still fly in aging aircraft. The ATR-72, a twin-engine turboprop used for short-dis- tance regional flying, went down near its destination of the southern Iranian city of Yasuj, some 485 miles south of the Iranian capital, Tehran, where it took off. It was not immediately clear what caused the crash, although weather was se- vere in the area. Dense fog, high winds and heavy snow in the Zagros Mountains made it impossible for rescue crews in helicopters to reach the site Sunday, state televi- sion reported. Aseman Airlines spokes man Mohammad Taghi Ta- batabai told state TV that all on board Flight No. EP3704 were killed. Those on board included 59 passengers and six crew members, the state- run IRNA news agency re- ported Sunday night, low- ering the death to 65 from an initially reported 66. “After searching the area, we learned that unfortu- nately … our dear passen- gers had lost their lives,” Tabatabai said. Both Supreme Leader Aya- tollah Ali Khamenei and Pres- ident Hassan Rouhani of- fered their condolences. Tabatabai said the plane crashed into Mount Dena, which is about 4,400 meters (14,435 feet) tall. The plane’s last signal, at 0555 GMT (12:35 a.m. EST), showed it at 16,975 feet and descending, according to airplane-tracking website FlightRadar24. The pilot was in contact with the tower 14 miles from the air- port, state TV said. One previous passenger on the route posted a video Sunday showing that the flight typically comes in just over the mountain peaks. Aeronautical charts for the airport warn pilots to keep an altitude of 15,000 feet in the area. The airport itself is at nearly 6,000 feet. The Iranian Red Cres- cent said it has deployed to the area. Locals de- scribed hearing the crash, although no one had found the crash site yet, ac- cording to state TV Aseman Airlines, owned by Iran’s civil service pension foundation, is a semi-private air carrier headquartered in Tehran that specializes in flights to remote airfields across the country. It also flies internationally. Aseman Airlines is Iran’s third-largest airline by fleet size, behind state carrier Iran Air and Mahan Air. How- ever, it is banned from flying in the European Union over safety concerns. The carrier has a fleet of 29 aircraft, including six ATR aircraft, according to FlightRadar24. The ATR-72 that crashed Sunday, with the tail number EP-ATS, had been built in 1993, Aseman Airlines CEO Ali Abedzadeh told state TV On Instagram, Aseman Airlines highlighted the doomed aircraft in October, saying it had been “grounded” for seven years but would be “repaired and will be op- erational after checking and testing.” It wasn’t clear what led to the grounding, though Iran only recently regained access to the airplane parts market after the nuclear deal. European airplane man- ufacturer ATR, a Toulouse, France-based partnership of Airbus and Italy’s Leon- ardo SpA., said it had no immediate information about the crash. Aseman Airlines has suf- fered other major crashes with fatalities. In October 1994, a twin-propeller Fokker F-28 1000 commuter plane operated by the air- line crashed near Natanz, 180 miles south of Tehran, also killing 66 people on board. An Aseman Airlines char- tered flight in August 2008, flown by an Itek Air Boeing 737, crashed in Kyrgyzstan, killing 74 people. Under decades of interna- tional sanctions, Iran’s com- mercial passenger aircraft fleet has aged, with air acci- dents occurring regularly in recent years. Following the 2015 land- mark nuclear deal with world powers, Iran signed deals with both Airbus and Boeing to buy scores of passenger planes worth tens of bil- lions of dollars. In April 2017, ATR sealed a $536 million sale with Iran Air for at least 20 aircraft. Chicago-based Boeing also signed a $3 billion deal that month to sell 30 737 MAX aircraft to Aseman Airlines. Home to 80 million people, Iran represents one of the world’s last untapped aviation markets. However, Western analysts are skep- tical that there is demand for so many jets or available fi- nancing for deals worth bil- lions of dollars. Iran has suffered a se- ries of major aviation di- sasters in recent decades. The last major crash in Iran happened in January 2011, when an Iran Air Boeing 727 broke to pieces on impact while trying an emergency landing in a snowstorm in northwestern Iran, killing at least 77 people. In July 2009, a Russian- made jetliner crashed in northwestern Iran shortly after taking off from Tehran, killing all 168 on board. A Russian-made Il- yushin 76 carrying mem- bers of the Revolutionary Guard crashed in the mountains of southeastern Iran in February 2003, killing 302 people. In February 1993, an Iranian airliner with 132 people aboard collided with an air force jet after takeoff from Tehran’s main airport, killing everyone on the two aircraft. And in July 1988, the USS Vincennes in the Strait of Hormuz mistook an Iran Air flight heading to Dubai for an attacking fighter jet, shooting down the plane and killing all 290 people aboard. UK prime minister seeks post-Brexit EU security alliance MUNICH (AP) – British Prime Minister Theresa May urged her country’s European Union partners on Saturday not to let “rigid institutional re- strictions” get in the way of a wide-ranging post-Brexit se- curity alliance, warning that there would be “damaging real-world consequences” if none can be agreed. In a speech to the Munich Security Conference, May sought to reassure foreign and security policy leaders on Britain’s future commit- ment to European security. “Europe’s security is our security – and that is why I’ve said, and I say again today, that the United Kingdom is unconditionally committed to maintaining it,” she said. The British government has already called for a wide- ranging security treaty with the EU to ensure that intel- ligence-sharing and law-en- forcement cooperation con- tinue after Brexit, scheduled for March 2019. Such a deal would allow Britain to re- main a member of the EU po- lice body Europol and keep use of the European Arrest Warrant, which allows for the quick extradition of suspects. But it has been unclear what legal framework would underpin such a treaty, be- cause Britain says it will leave the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. May said the challenge is to put together a “deep and special partnership” with the EU to retain and fur- ther cooperation. “This cannot be a time when any of us allow compe- tition between partners, rigid institutional restrictions or deep-seated ideology to in- hibit our cooperation and jeopardize the security of our citizens,” she said. “We must do whatever is most practical and pragmatic in ensuring our collective se- curity,” she added. May conceded that there’s no existing security arrange- ment between the 28-nation EU and a non-member that reflects the full depth of the existing EU-U.K. relationship, but argued that there’s prec- edent in “comprehensive stra- tegic relationships” in fields such as trade and there’s “no legal or operational reason” why such an accord couldn’t be reached on security. “However, if the priority in the negotiations becomes avoiding any kind of new co- operation with a country out- side the EU, then this polit- ical doctrine and ideology will have damaging real- world consequences for the security of all our people,” she said, including much more cumbersome extradi- tions and an end to data ex- change through Europol. She said that a new ar- rangement must respect both the sovereignty of the EU and U.K., and Britain “will respect the remit of the European Court of Justice” when partici- pating in EU agencies. Confer- ence organizer Wolfgang Is- chinger remarked after May’s speech that “things would be so much easier if you stayed” – drawing applause. May quickly slapped down that idea. “We are leaving the Eu- ropean Union,” she said to a quiet room. “There is no ques- tion of a second referendum or going back on that vote.” The head of the European Commission said the EU- British security alliance will continue after Brexit, but did not say on what terms. “I believe, since we are not at war with the U.K. and we do not want to take re- venge on the U.K. for what the British people have de- cided, this security alliance, the security bridge between the U.K. and the EU will be maintained,” Jean-Claude Juncker said as he took the same stage shortly after May. “We still need it.” Juncker said a future se- curity relationship should not be mixed up with other Brexit-related issues, arguing that they should be consid- ered individually. Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at the Security Conference in Munich, Germany, on Saturday. - PHOTO: AP An Aseman Airlines ATR-72 aircraft, similar to the one which crashed Sunday in the Padena mountains in southern Iran.Next >