The Jamaican woman who made headlines last year with claims that she had been physically and verbally abused by immigration officials at the Grantley Adams International Airport is back in the news with a vengeance. Caribbean360 News reported yesterday that Shanique Myrie was last seen in Barbados in April at a much publicised appearance when she made her case before the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) during its historic first sitting in the country.
At that time she was granted leave to file a case against Barbados-and file she has. Myrie wants Barbados to pay-literally-for the humiliation and prejudice she claims to have suffered at the hands of airport officials on her arrival in Barbados on March 14, 2011.
The report said her demands for J$118,000 in special damages, including the cost of her ticket, medical expenses to date, medical report, slippers, and interest, are joined by unspecified amounts in moral damages, exemplary damages and aggravated damages. All are contained in a Notice of Filing of Originating Application, dated May 23 and posted on the CCJ Web site at month end.
Myrie also wants further investigations to identify the individuals who she claimed assaulted and unlawfully detained her and to have them prosecuted and punished in criminal proceedings. In addition to the damages and investigation, the Jamaican national has asked the court to issue an order that denying her entry to Barbados in March 2011 was unlawful and that the "Cancelled" entry stamp in her passport was null and void.
Myrie is also seeking an apology for officials "violating her fundamental human rights and freedom, in particular by treating her in a discriminatory manner, conducting an unlawful body search, conducting an unlawful cavity search, arbitrarily and unlawfully detaining...and verbally abusing" her, according to the document.