Antigua and Barbuda is searching for assist from authorities in London to resolve the killing of a member of Parliament within the Caribbean island nation who was discovered stabbed to dying this week.
The choice was taken Wednesday by Cupboard members who additionally introduced an official funeral for Asot Michael, 54, a boisterous and infrequently controversial former authorities minister whose physique was found at his seaside house in Antigua on Tuesday.
As a former British colony, the twin-island nation nonetheless has sturdy ties to Britain and previously has requested assist from London police in high-profile circumstances.
Authorities haven’t publicly disclosed any suspected motive, and nobody has been arrested. It was the primary time in reminiscence {that a} politician has been killed in Antigua, and the case has shocked the island nation.
Police Commissioner Atlee Rodney instructed The Related Press that police have questioned a number of individuals. He mentioned the dying was dominated a murder given wounds to the physique, however declied to provide additional particulars.
Michael was a businessman whose household owns a neighborhood on line casino and retail outlets together with a shoe retailer. He ascended by the ranks of the governing Antigua & Barbuda Social gathering, and was well-known for being a philanthropist. Most notable was his annual distribution of meals, toys and, in some cases, family items and home equipment to constituents at Christmas.
Adrian Williams, Michael’s marketing campaign supervisor throughout the 2023 basic elections, mentioned generosity outlined the late politician. “His coronary heart was massive,” Williams mentioned.
Michael had served as public works minister and later held tourism, financial improvement and power portfolios in Cupboard earlier than being ousted from the occasion in 2022 following numerous controversies together with a world bribery case during which he has denied wrongdoing.
Unfazed by his dismissal, he efficiently ran as an unbiased within the 2023 election to retain his seat in Parliament.
As a parliamentarian, Michael was a lightning rod for controversy. He was ejected from the chamber on a number of events, and in 2023, he was suspended by the Home speaker who accused him of being disruptive and insulting.
Michael additionally had a pending battery cost for allegedly assaulting a police officer at carnival occasion earlier this yr. He had pled not responsible.
Prime Minister Gaston Browne mentioned in an announcement Tuesday that he was “saddened and disturbed” by Michael’s sudden dying.
“Though our relationship turned strained for a interval and his formal affiliation with the occasion ended, he maintained his curiosity within the political lifetime of the nation,” Browne mentioned. “Earlier this yr, we reconnected, and I welcomed him as a buddy and colleague.”
