“[…] Mr Khan must know of the hundreds of people missing and presumed dead in T&T. Those are counted by the population as homicides. No perpetrators have been found. The hangman’s noose swings empty and idle. “… Mr Khan must know that in the finding of guilt, the criminal justice …
Read More »Dear editor: Don’t justify ‘cockroach’ slur, commissioner—it is a slippery slope
Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith obviously realised that his use of the word ‘cockroaches’ was at risk of being construed in a racist way. That is why he had to come out to ‘clarify’ his position. [Daily Express, 14/08/2020: ‘Griffith: Tone down race talk’]. But having recognised the danger of …
Read More »Dear Editor: Stupidity kills—neither God nor sunlight was ever going to save us from Covid
Stupidity kills. That’s not an exaggeration. Stupidity coupled with ignorance is an even deadlier combination. Just Google ‘Darwin Awards’. Weeks ago, I predicted a rise in Covid-19 cases in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T). It wasn’t difficult to foresee the current spate of infection growth. A little time spent learning the …
Read More »Dear editor: Is TTPS really pleased with a 20% solve rate and 1% conviction rate?
“[…] For years, the murder detection/solve rate has been less than 10%. No lie. I have been monitoring this since 2007. Typically, the ‘solve rate’ hovers between 4% to 6%. “This year, 2020, TTPS has risen to heights hitherto unseen, by reaching a whopping 20% solve rate. Of course, that …
Read More »Dear Editor: Express raid shows TTPS has found another loophole after Sedition Act knock back
“[…] Now that the police can no longer bring charges under the Sedition Act, they are going for the vague charge of ‘Tipping Off’ found in section 51 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2000. “A quick review of the Act showed that the charge of ‘Tipping off’ is designed …
Read More »Dear Editor: Erosion of bail rights for gun possession could be first step on slippery slope
“People never seem to think that a breach of the rights of even one individual, means that that breach can apply to all. It is why the judiciary so staunchly defends the rights of even the most depraved of society…” The following Letter to the Editor on proposed amendments to …
Read More »Dear Editor: Plan for citizens returning from China a joke
The following Letter to the Editor was submitted to Wired868 from Mohan Ramcharan in Birmingham, England. In it, he responds to Minister of Health Dr Terrence Deyalsingh’s statement on plans for citizen’s returning from China, where the coronavirus was first detected in December 2019: I have carefully weighed the minister …
Read More »Dear Editor: Crowne is wrong; Archie should face tribunal
“If the Chief Justice must accept defeat gracefully, it should have been done long ago. Grace is impossible at this point, and the judiciary is already far more impugned by the Chief Justice than merely his latest exchange with Justice Gobin. “The latter is merely a symptom of a far …
Read More »Dear Editor: The hangman never left; the problem is the inefficient Police Service
“Billions of dollars have been spent on the TnT police service (TTPS) and they have been given anything they have asked for to fight crime. Yet, TTPS is probably the lowest performing police service in the world. “[…] The TTPS is a ‘dumping ground’ for people who achieved less than …
Read More »Dear Editor: AG Al-Rawi is creating a wedge for persons using the FOIA
“What the AG seeks to accomplish is put a wedge between persons requesting information and the public body holding the relevant information, that wedge being himself. “He clearly strokes his own ego as the person who knows best whether the information comes under FOIA or not, thus usurping the role …
Read More »Dear Editor: Judicial delays, low detection rate and faulty logic; the problem with the ‘hangman cure’
“Logic, if you followed me so far, would dictate that there are two main barriers to implementing hanging: an abysmally low detection rate by any standards; and an inefficient judicial system which appears designed for lawyers to make more money by using delay tactics…” The following Letter to the Editor …
Read More »Dear Editor: Weekes weak week; an illegal appointment can’t be ‘redressed’
I note with some amusement that President Paula-Mae Weekes ‘suddenly discovered’ an error was made in the paperwork leading up to the appointment of Judge Charmaine Pemberton as a member of the Judicial and Legal Service Commission (JLSC). “She explained what the error was: ‘While the relevant instrument of appointment …
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