Death penalty abolished by judicial edict

THE EDITOR: The regular quarterly or semi-annual surveys by Market Facts and Opinions of the media and the use of those survey results in pursuit of the mighty advertising dollar combined are killing consciences and whatever smattering of professionalism may be left in the media. The TT Republic constitution guarantees freedom of the press (media) but, because of the twin evils above, the principals have used them as an excuse to avoid the freedom’s concomitant responsibility. I will give one of the most recent glaring examples. There is this female history teacher who is an assistant host on a popular radio-station, whose proud station ID is “First! Fast! Accurate!” and “The Most Powerful Name in Talk Radio!”

One morning last week (September 1 - 5) she was severely critical of the government for not pursuing a more active role in implementing the death penalty. It was even opined that the Attorney-General herself may be personally against it and that is why she is not more active in its implementation. She was more than intermittently almost drowned out by her two male co-hosts and senior principals at the station, in agreement with her views. The inseparable twins who hold the positions of programme director and news director were not simply oblivious, but completely ignorant that less than a week before on their own station on Marathon Friday (August 29) Mrs.Glenda Morean, Attorney-General, made a definitive policy statement on her government’s policy on the death penalty.

One would assume that if the station addressed serious issues by having guests that its listeners can be authoritatively informed, the least hosts on that station, who insist on their right to express their opinions and label people sycophants, could be expected to do is to keep themselves informed and updated on current information and facts. Here is what AG Morean had to say not only for those three klutzes but the interested serious citizen.
“There are over 200 persons under the death penalty now but some are due to have their sentences commuted because of the five-year time limit.
“The problem here is that other countries in the region, like Barbados and Jamaica, have tried to enact legislation to get around the five-year problem. But as long as there is the right of appeal to the ICHR and all the different avenues for appeal and subsequent to that the Committee on the Power of Pardon after which you have the further right to go for judicial review of any decision, that automatically takes you out of that five year period and you well find that, quite apart, not by legal but by judicial edict, the death penalty is abolished.

“I am not saying this is what had happened, but effectively we have been unable to implement the death penalty. “I have a committee that monitors what is happening with the condemned persons and to see where we have reached at each stage with their particular applications. The law provides for time frames within which things are supposed to be done. “You cannot go and execute a person while these applications are pending because we subscribe to the rule of law and we ourselves can’t act outside the law. “I can’t say who does or does not believe (in the death penalty). The fact is that that is the law and we are here to uphold the law. The position of the government is that the law is to be implemented.”

DESMOND ROXBOROUGH
La Florissante