Virus or not, 1,115 murder accused to stay put

Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi said on Thursday that 1,115 people who have been convicted of murder will remain in prison. He made this point as he spoke about the courts considering the release of low-risk prisoners to reduce prison overcrowding to combat the spread of the covid19 pandemic in TT.

At a virtual news conference at the Health Ministry on Park Street in Port of Spain, Al-Rawi said, “We have in our prison population, 3,959 people.” This figure includes 3,829 men and 130 women. Of the overall total, Al-Rawi said 1,115 have been convicted of murder. He stressed that they “will not be in the bracket of accessing bail under any circumstances.”

He also said a “high hurdle” has been set for people convicted of firearm offences and other blood crimes, with the burden placed on them to prove to the court why they should be granted bail. Al-Rawi said the those being considered for release are charged with non-violent or minor offences.

These include failure to pay maintenance, traffic offences, use of obscene language and possession above 30 and 60 grammes. While he could not say how many people are being considered for release in this exercise, Al-Rawi said a similar exercise was done regarding the release of people charged with marijuana possession of 30 grammes and below. He recalled 516 people fitted that criterion for release.

The vast majority of cases being considered, he said, are ones where people have been granted bail but are “just too poor” to raise the $5,000 to access bail. He explained this results in “the State keeping them in the prison at great cost to the taxpayers with certain risks in the covid19 environment.”

Saying this was a very carefully thought out judicial exercise and not a kneejerk reaction to the pandemic, Al-Rawi said the question of at-risk prisoners coming back into society and the rights of victims were being carefully balanced.

“It’s for that very reason that the persons before the court will include the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Commissioner of Police,” Al-Rawi said, “It is in that regard that you get the prosecution’s point of view. “The victim’s point of view is translated in that position. Very often we have victim impact statements. We know what the risk is.”

Al-Rawi said TT has ten prisons, two child rehabilitation centres (one for boys and one for girls) and an immigration detention centre (IDC). Asked whether inmates at the IDC will be included among the low-risk prisoners to be released, he said the IDC is run by the Chief Immigration Officer and “the exercise of that discretion can be handled outside of a court process.”

He observed that people who breach TT’s immigration laws or regulations are detained at the IDC. “That pool is being managed slightly differently. We are attempting to get that information outside of this process.”