Dear Editor, I agree with much of what Thomas Wynne has been writing in the Cook Islands News over the last three Saturdays with regard to re-examining the Albert Henry Case of 1978-79

There is a lot of truth with what Thomas has been writing about what happened, during this time, to Finbar Kenny in the United States and why.

Finbar Kenny was ordered by the District Court, for the District of Columbia, Washington, U.S.A. on 2 August 1979 to travel to Rarotonga and plead “guilty” to a violation of the Crimes Act 1969, Section 280, for “conspiring to defraud the Cook Islands Government”. The amount involved was $337,000.

This Finbar did on 11 August 1979.

Finbar was also instructed by the District Court to see that the Cook Islands Development Company Ltd (the company that operated the Philatelic Bureau) also pleaded “guilty” to the same offence on that same date.

This plea meant that the company’s Managing Director, Jim Little, had to also plead “guilty” to that same offence on 11 August 1979 because he had no choice.

Three “conspiracy to defraud” convictions on 11 August 1979, confirmed to the Court that a “conspiracy to defraud the Cook Islands Government” did exist.

So, according to Albert’s lawyer Lloyd Brown, Albert therefore had no option but to plead “guilty” to the same conspiracy offence, which he did most reluctantly on 16 August 1979, simply because he had no choice.

Thomas Wynne mentioned in his article on Saturday 25 November 2023 that he was simply “shaking the tree” to see what else might “drop out” with regard to the Albert Henry Case of 1978-79.

Thomas’s “shaking the tree” efforts over the previous two weeks resulted in three people writing Letters to the Editor last week. Each complaining and criticising different things Thomas had written about.

Maybe a few people on Rarotonga were feeling very “nervous” about how close Thomas was actually getting to the truth in this case and what various new things he is likely to expose.

And they didn’t like it.

So, they write to criticise, complain and object to what Thomas has been writing, because they do not agree with some of the things he has been saying.

Thomas can write what he likes.

It is called “Freedom of Speech”.

So, I’m hoping Thomas will keep going. Keep writing. And keep exposing what really happened to Albert Henry and Finbar Kenny behind the scenes with regard to their “Criminal Convictions” at Rarotonga in August 1979.

In his Letter to the Editor of Saturday 25 November 2023, Reuben Tylor wrote that during the Electoral Court Hearings of June 1978, that I, Howard Henry, “was just a kid”.

What a “cheeky” thing for Reuben to write.

Why, all of a sudden, does Reuben decide to “pick on me”?

I returned to Rarotonga that same month of June 1978, after completing my studies at Oxford University in England, under a UNDP Scholarship, where I passed all my four examinations.

For three years, prior to going to Oxford, I was an External Affairs Officer within the Premier’s Department. I attended many of those Electoral Court Hearings during June 1978. I have a lot of historical documents and papers relevant to that time.

I was 26 years of age. Married with two children. So, I was not, as Reuben Tylor incorrectly wrote … “just a kid”.

Given that Reuben’s opinion of me is both distorted and totally incorrect, raises the question as to how many other things included in his letter of 25 November 2023 that are also distorted and totally incorrect.

There is quite few in my opinion.

Thomas … “Keep shaking the tree”.

You are on the right track.

Howard Henry