Four arrested under Anti-Gang Act

FOUR men have been arrested and charged under the Anti-Gang Act 2018. They are all from Jitman Drive, Five Rivers, Arouca and are expected to appear before an Arima magistrate tomorrow to answer the charges which were laid by Sgt Durga of the OCIU.

They were the first to be arrested since the act was proclaimed in May. In a statement after the proclamation by President Paula-Mae Weekes, the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs said: “This act is one of several legislative measures that have been undertaken to buttress the criminal justice system and assist law enforcement in its fight against crime.”

The act was passed in the Parliament on May 4 and assented by the President on May 15.

The ministry said the act did not come into force on the date of assent on account of Section 2, the commencement section, which provides that the act shall come into operation upon proclamation.

The bill was a source of contention between the Government and the Opposition and had been defeated last December when the Opposition refused to back it because it did not approve of the four-year sunset clause.

After agreeing to a 30-month sunset clause, the Opposition supported the bill, which needed a three-fifths majority to pass. It was passed in the House of Representatives in March and one month later in the Senate.