Carmona appoints Firearms Appeals Board

Mohammed and the other board members, attorney and former prosecutor Lee Merry, and former chief fire officer Leslie Skeete were sworn in yesterday by Carmona at the Office of the President, St Ann’s.

Among the relatives witnessing the event were Mohammed’s father, former Speaker of the House of Representatives Nizam Mohammed.

Shortly after the swearing in, Mohammed told the media, “the first order of business is to determine exactly the status of the appeals, and getting down to work as quickly as possible.” The new board was eager, he said, “to get the ball rolling, and work assiduously to try and clear any backlog if there is any, and get the process moving quite smoothly.” In brief remarks, Carmona noted that Mohammed, a former defence attorney, and Merry, a former prosecutor represented a balance on the board.

Both men in their previous capacities, he said, appeared before him while he served as a judge and as such he could vouch for their integrity as advocates before the court.

“I can tell you it amounts to the changing of the guards when one considers that the last chairman was Mr Israel Khan, SC, and now we have two young men of variant experiences and competencies, one in the defence world and the other a former prosecutor to adjudicate on a quasi-judicial body in the context of this whole issue of firearms by way of obtaining firearms licences,” he said. He recalled that in carrying out their duties, they did so with probity, civility, and respect for the court of law ensuring that justice was served at all times.