Audio, video evidence to tackle drug kingpins

LAVENTILLE East/Morvant MP Fitzgerald Hinds last Friday called for audio and video evidence to be made admissable in the courts in order to catch “the big fish,” in the local drug trade. Speaking during debate in the House of Representatives on the Summary Courts (Amendment) Bill 2003, Hinds declared the admissibility of such evidence in Trinidad and Tobago’s courts would help police arrest the major players in the illegal drug trade and not just their foot soldiers. However, the PNM MP lamented that the UNC was unsupportive of this idea. Hinds said when he asked his nine-year-old son about the causes of crime in TT today, the reply was, “if someone can get away with crime, they will continue to do it.” “Cabinet material!” Oropouche MP Dr Roodal Moonilal quipped. Noting that several of the nation’s corruption laws were deficient, Hinds said it was important to create a psychological climate of peace in the country, but wrongdoers must be aware that they would face the full brunt of the law for their transgressions. He criticised earlier remarks by Pointe-a-Pierre MP Gillian Lucky, reminding her that former Attorney General Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj “led the charge” against the Judiciary while the UNC was in government.

Hinds said no improvements to TT’s justice system came out of the Lord McKay Commission of Inquiry which was held under the former regime. Saying Lucky continues “to drink her porridge too hot,” Hinds wondered why Lucky still continued to prosecute cases for the State, under a PNM Government, while simultaneously complaining of the deplorable condition of the nation’s magistrates’ courts. He claimed Lucky held “a secret meeting with a handful of magistrates” and reminded her that conditions at the magistrates’ courts had been deteriorating under successive governments, including the UNC. The PNM MP also said the concerns of attorneys at the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) office was now before the Salaries Review Committee and the process should be allowed to work. He wondered whether Lucky was trying to get State briefs.

In her earlier contribution, Lucky claimed seven out of nine senior State counsels’ positions at the office of the DPP were vacant and this was impacting negatively on the DPP’s work. Princes Town MP Subhas Panday slammed provisions in the Bill which would make the DPP a complainant in certain legal matters. Panday said investigations should be left solely to the police and the Integrity Commission. He slammed Prime Minister Patrick Manning’s “free trips” from energy companies British Gas and Repsol as, “the greatest scam on the Parliament and people of TT.” Panday claimed under existing laws, the DPP’s hands were tied in this matter.