The former premier Ewart Brown has claimed that he was persecuted by a White Establishment because he “tries to stand with a straight spine” and “espouses counter-racist views”.

Dr Brown made the allegations during a hearing in Civil Court yesterday. The former premier has launched a civil action against the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Attorney-General and the Deputy Governor, claiming that an inquiry into allegations against him was unconstitutional.

Dr Brown’s legal team has argued that the creation of the Strategic Oversight Group — set up in February 2014 to oversee the inquiry — breached laws around the abuse of power through the inclusion of Ginny Ferson and Rory Field, the Deputy Governor and the Director of Public Prosecutions at the time, as members.

Questioned yesterday by his attorney, Jerome Lynch, KC, Dr Brown, who was the Premier between 2006 and 2010, claimed that he had always been on the radar of the Establishment and political opponents.

He said: “Any leader of the Progressive Labour Party who stood up for the principles of the PLP was despised.

“They identified me early on in my political career as someone who would be outspoken on issues of race. It was clear that I was going to be targeted from Day 1.

“I felt that I was going to be targeted until the day I die because of my views, especially my views on race.

“I believe it, and I know it and I feel it. The reason I am being targeted is because I am a Black man who tries to stand with a straight spine. I speak out when I see injustice, and that is not allowed in Bermuda.”

Dr Brown said he believed that moves to launch an investigation began after his 2009 decision to bring four Uighurs to Bermuda from the US prison camp at Guantánamo Bay at the request of President Barack Obama.

Dr Brown described his relationship with the Governor, Richard Gozney, as initially cordial, but added: “After, the relationship deteriorated. He was under considerable pressure from ‘concerned Bermudians’ who wrote a letter saying why I was unfit to be premier.

“The relationship with the Governor got worse. He was under pressure from various White groups to do something about me because they said I was out of control.

“I regarded it as consistent with their mission to colonise the country with racist means.”

He added that he believed he was also targeted by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office “for political reasons”.

Describing a meeting in London with Chris Bryant, Britain’s minister for Overseas Territories, shortly after the Uighur incident, Dr Brown said: “We went into the meeting room and he began wagging his finger at me as if I was less than a man. I turned my back to him. He was talking to me as if I was a little boy.”

He later described Mr Bryant’s behaviour as “disdainful and disrespectful”.

The investigation into Dr Brown was initiated in 2011 after allegations surfaced during a trial.

In court yesterday, Dr Brown said: “As a result of that allegation, my relationship with the Governor got worse in that I had no further contact with him.

“I felt that the Governor had finally found something to investigate me after nibbling around the edges. It came totally out of left-field.”

Dr Brown said that he had told Mr Gozney and his predecessor, Sir John Vereker, that their relationship was “unnatural”.

He said: “They were here to ensure further colonisation, and I was opposed to that, so we were moving in different directions.”

Asked why Whitehall wanted to strengthen its control over Bermuda, Dr Brown replied: “Their interest is political and economic. The British Empire has never died. They want to have control.”

Questioned about Bermudians’ views on independence, he replied: “The Black population embrace independence in their hearts, but when they are asked, they are not for it because they have been taught that it is not in their interest. That is the success of colonisation.”

Dr Brown added that the opposition One Bermuda Alliance, which was in office between 2012 and 2017, also persecuted him — and that the Attorney-General at the time, Trevor Moniz, was “leading the charge”.

He said: “He knew that and I would take him on. We were known to be political opposites.”

Dr Brown also said that the OBA deliberately tried to ruin his medical practice after imposing price caps on MRI scans. At the time his clinic, Bermuda Healthcare Services, was the only private practice providing scans.

He said: “Their last piece of legislation they passed slashed the fees of the medical clinic by 83 per cent — it was going to cripple the business.”

After a 2017 police raid on his practice, Dr Brown said: “I regarded it as another piece of the war against me, and they were coming from all angles to get me.

“They were out to get me because of my affiliations and views, which were consistent with the principles of the PLP. They didn’t like the fact that I espoused counter-racist views.”

Under cross-examination by attorney Elizabeth Christopher, Dr Brown agreed that no one should be exempt from a police investigation because of their position in public life.

He also acknowledged that politics coloured all aspects of his life and that his world view was seen through the lens of a racist society.

Ms Christopher pointed out that the Strategic Oversight Group was set up by Mr Moniz’s predecessor, Mark Pettingill, who subsequently represented many of Dr Brown’s patients in a lawsuit relating to the police raid on his clinic.

Asked by Ms Christopher if Mr Pettingill had any “animus” towards him, Dr Brown replied: “Not that I know of.”

Dr Brown further acknowledged that he could not speak for all Blacks or all members of the PLP.

Referring to Dr Brown’s earlier testimony, Ms Christopher said: “These are just expressions of your opinion. They reflect your world view and your perspective?”

Dr Brown replied: “Yes — and the truth.”

The hearing, which is being held before Acting Puisne Judge Martin Forde, continues today.