(UPDATED) Protesters call on authorities to improve prison conditions

SHANE SUPERVILLE AND ANDREW GIOANNETTI

A pastor and counsellor who has two sons in the prison system – one as a prisons officer, the other a prisoner, was among several people who protested outside the Hall of Justice and the Ministry of National Security in Port of Spain on Friday calling for urgent prison reform.

Bertram Gill said his son Keon Andrews has been imprisoned at the Golden Grove maximum security prison for seven years, and urged the authorities to meet with the demonstrators to discuss possible improvements in the quality of life behind bars.

"I counsel many of the inmates and I have first-hand experience speaking with the inmates and the officers, so I know something needs to be done.

"I have one son there as an officer and another who is in prison. Both of them deal with the inhumane operations in this system.

"Not because they are incarcerated means you can't treat them like people."

There were two demonstrations held hours apart in which the organisers, activists Dr Wayne Kublalsingh and Nazma Muller, and relatives and friends of inmates sought to raise awareness and bring about change to what they deem a dysfunctional justice system.

They also promised to head to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions on Richmond Street to seek his urgent attention.

Last week, Kublalsingh and Muller – the latter of whom is out on bail on charges of cultivation and possession of cannabis – led a similar but even smaller protest close by.

Newsday spoke with Adrian Gokool, a self-proclaimed rehabilitated ex-prisoner from Penal, who was at last week's demonstration and was among the first to arrive on Friday morning.

Gokool said, "I'm here because I served 34 years and eight months (in prison) and it hurts me to see so many men waiting on a trial ten, 15 and 20 years.

"We are here to protest in the name of Jesus for these men to receive a date (for trial). It is not just barbaric, it is inhumane, unconstitutional for men to pass ten years on remand."

Gokool spent decades in prison for armed robbery and other charges and was handed a custodial sentence of 40 years, in addition to the archaic punishment of 20 strokes. He was also accused of murder but was not convicted.

Although the group had not received permission to protest, it was doing so peacefully on the pavement, without obstructing traffic.

Speaking with Newsday, Muller said the demonstration held special significance for her, as she witnessed first hand the state of the criminal justice system after being arrested last month.

"It is absolutely dehumanising. You are less than a child, because everyone is in total control of your freedom and your ability to drink even water.

"I don't understand why this is necessary in the 21st century."

Muller said issues of prison reform should be everyone's concern and not only the families of inmates.