Prison Officers Assoc head: No prisoners released for covid19

President of the Prison Officers' Association (POA) Ceron Richards.
President of the Prison Officers' Association (POA) Ceron Richards.

Prison Officers Association president Ceron Richards was confused as to where the “hundreds” of prisoners who Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi claimed were released had come from.

“Maybe they came from a jail in space,” Richards said. “But there has been no special release of prisoners in any TT prison.”

Richards said the only outgoing traffic in the prisons was that of “everyday” releases – those people who have completed their sentences or have been released after meeting their requirements for bail set by the courts.

A release from the Prison Officers Association said the AG may have been “misled by a person or persons who are strangers to the truth.”

The release went on to say that a number of inmates continue to go unrepresented since the appointment process at the Public Defender's office is slow.

Richards added that several prisoners were released after serving a minimum sentence, but that system, called “remission,” was in no way changed to accommodate prisoners to be released early in light of the spread of covid19.

The association also noted that no prisoners have been released through the Mercy Committee either.

“We humbly request that the AG return to the source of this most misleading information since we are certain he will not knowingly seek to mislead the public of TT,” the release said.

On Wednesday Al-Rawi responded to a media release from the Caribbean Centre for Human Rights which accused the government of not honouring its promise to take steps to reduce the spread of covid19 behind bars.

Al-Rawi said government secured the prisoners' release through the Public Defender's division, the Commissioner of Prisons and the Mercy Committee.

Prison Commissioner Dennis Pulchan declined to comment.

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"Prison Officers Assoc head: No prisoners released for covid19"

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