Ramesh provides fast-tracking hanging plan

Maharaj prepared a comprehensive plan free of charge for the Dr Keith Rowley administration and yesterday he announced at a press conference that government must also have the will-power to implement the death penalty. Maharaj said, “They have to make up their minds to do it. They must have a dedicated team to track the cases but, most importantly, they have to put their minds to it.” Maharaj managed the trials of Dole Chadee and his gang who murdered four members of a Williamsville family which resulted in Chadee and eight men being hanged in 1999 and yesterday, the former attorney general announced that he had recommended the same fast-tracking mechanism in which government must first examine the cases of those Death Row prisoners who are close to the five-year Pratt and Morgan limitation period.

The last two people who were hanged after the Chadee gang, were Anthony Briggs and Wenceslaus James on July 28, 1999. The events sparked major controversy locally and abroad with criticisms from several international agencies and individuals lobbying for abolition of the death penalty.

There are approximately 36 convicted people on Death Row and Newsday learned yesterday that staff at the office of Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi have begun to implement the plan provided by Maharaj.

Maharaj said yesterday that he has recommended to government that a Case Management Unit (CMU) be set up which must be all-embracing, in which it must comprise representatives from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Commissioner of Prisons, Supreme Court Registry, Ministry of National Security and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The respective members must be responsible for ensuring that all departments which fall under those ministries, provide all the information requested by the CMU in a timely manner to ensure all necessary documents are made available for appeals and applications by convicted killers before international human rights bodies.

Citing his own experience as a former attorney general, Maharaj said if there were any delays or stumbling blocks which the CMU could not overcome, he was requested to intervene as attorney general to have the process expedited.

Convicted killers who have exhausted appeals to the Privy Council have a right to petition the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights with an appeal from the commission to the Inter-American Court on Human Rights. They also have the right to petition the United Nations Committee on Human Rights. When those fail, the convicted prisoner petitions the Mercy Committee requesting that his death sentence be commuted to life imprisonment.

Maharaj reiterated that a good plan “is as good as its implementation”, adding that one must recognise the work of a government minister is indeed a heavy task.

Asked how long could it take for the first person to be hanged in Trinidad if his plan is effected efficiently, Maharaj said that it all depended on the status of the appeals of Death Row prisoners.