Indemnified from being law-abiding

THE EDITOR: Ace calypsonian and calypso-writer Llewelyn "Short Pants" Mc Intosh years ago declared in song: "The law is an ass.” In TT society today, you can add to Mc Intosh's ditty that "The law is an ass which prefers to be ridden by upper-class people."

One of these well-known jockeys is a person whom government officials accommodated by giving indemnities in exchange for evidence.

The bligh given to this "good" citizen has been used as a licence to make a total mockery of the rule of law and the separation of power doctrine.

But a thief just hates to see a next man with a bag. So, when the born-again state witness refused to testify and the State was caught with its pants down and its nether regions exposed, guess who may now have to foot the $100-million-plus bill if this citizen wins in his civil lawsuit.

Truth be told, with the passage of time, meanings and purpose have changed. The law is no longer an ass alone, but may be used by many as a trojan horse.

Guilty parties, or at least those with questions to answer, turn around and trump up charges against the state. Others avoid incarceration long enough thanks to shortcomings in the judicial system which they exploit to the fullest.

Those handling state briefs should stop "voopsing" and get their acts together. They should also charge fees in keeping with their inexperienced advice or reduce the original fees if they lose in court. The faux pas which leads to cases being lost on technicalities is costly.

It is also very strange that the highest of high in authority can claim no knowledge of these indemnity deals when said deals were brokered by people from within the supreme leader's inner-circle. The way hands were washed and re-washed would have left Pontius Pilate very impressed.

Undoubtedly, power was usurped and boundaries were crossed. Robin Hood and Ali Baba and their merry bands now have the state in a “full nelson” until they are ready to ride off with their spoils.

Taxpayers with nothing to ride on, except maybe a bicycle, with nothing to keep them warm, except maybe a coal pot, and who are ketching dey nenen, can only watch as bandits in jacket and tie ride off on horses with their loot.

LENNOX FRANCIS

Couva