Guilty until proven innocent?

- File photo
- File photo

THE EDITOR: It appears to me that, generally, citizens of this country have become quite comfortable with the fact that our justice system is treating people accused of crimes as though they are convicted felons – before they are tried in a court of law.

But, you say, everyone knows that this statement cannot possibly be true because it flies in the face of one of the basic tenets of our justice system, ie, that an accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

And, you say, every day we see evidence of this principle in action throughout the courts where accused people appear to answer charges and to provide evidence of their innocence. True.

But read this from a letter I had published in October 2016 (“Fix our justice system ASAP”):

“Ever since I saw an interview of a recaptured prisoner on TV6 in early April this year (2016), I have been more than a little concerned about the gross failings of our justice system and the unquestionably damaging effects on life in this country for all of us.

“The recaptured prisoner was 31 years old and of those 31years, 12 were spent in prison awaiting trial. He was put in prison as a young man, not yet an adult and for the next 12 years, along with some 800 others, yes 800 (from an Israel Khan article in the press), continued to be dehumanised, living in the most deplorable conditions of overcrowding and brutalisation.”

Now here we are in 2019 and we have just seen the result of the first ever judge-alone trial – ending February 18. Justice Gillian Lucky told Kwasi Forde, the accused, that he was not guilty of the 14-year-old murder and he was free to go.

However you slice it, whatever qualifications and explanations one might attach to this judgment, Forde is yet another innocent person who had been deprived of his liberty simply because he was charged with the crime of felony murder. A crime he did not commit. He was imprisoned for 14 years.

So there we have it. Two glaring examples of innocent people who were de facto found guilty, by the reality of their imprisonment, on the basis of a charge being laid against them. They were simply charged and then jailed – only to be proven innocent when tried. Is this justice? What about the hundreds who are still in prison awaiting trial? How many of them are in fact innocent? We don’t know because they are in prison awaiting trial.

Why do they have to spend many years in prison if they are innocent until proven guilty?

We as a people must not allow this to continue. This practice is inhumane and unjust and is in my view a crime against humanity.

Now I know the Chief Justice has taken a number of initiatives to expedite the operation of the justice system – as noted by Justice Lucky – but where are the voices of the public and various civic and business organisations?

Where is the voice of the Law Association in this matter? Is the Chief Justice the only target on which the association sees fit to train its guns?

Is the liberty of innocent people not fundamental to the rule of law?

ASHTON S BRERETON via e-mail

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