Heed prosecutors' cry

TWO FORMER students of St Mary’s College, Port of Spain, have, for very different reasons, been prominent in the news recently.

The first is Stuart Young, 49, the government minister poised to ascend the highest echelons of power.

The second is Randall Hector, 43, the special prosecutor who was gunned down in front of his family on New Year’s Eve. His funeral was on January 9.

Their contrasting fates constitute a snapshot of TT’s current state.

Mr Hector’s killing has revived calls for greater protection for not only prosecutors, but also all ministers of justice, from judges to lawyers.

Worryingly, it has been followed, mere hours after the prosecutor’s well-attended funeral, by the murder of an attorney and her husband in Cumuto in an incident which, like the December 31 murder, remains subject to investigation.

The calls for greater security must be heeded. And with urgency.

While there is speculation over its motive, the location alone of Mr Hector’s killing sent a chilling message. Stanmore Avenue in Port of Spain is where the crime took place. This location is very close to significant buildings, including Balisier House and the US Embassy, as well as Knowsley, the headquarters of the Strategic Services Agency. It was a strike on law and order in a key district.

And it was outside a church.

The Prime Minister’s promise on January 3, that, in response to this very serious development, “the government of TT will provide all the reasonable support to all officers of state to ensure that the rule of law prevails,” was reassuring. Two ministers have already met with the judiciary. Top cop Erla Harewood-Christopher has, in unequivocal terms, committed to “additional security.”

But there have been some conflicting reports about what exactly that means.

And Israel Khan, SC, head of the Criminal Bar Association, noted on January 9 that the issue of protecting prosecutors extends beyond simply providing bodyguards or private security.

The very terms and conditions that accrue to posts within the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) also require re-examination.

Even before the recent developments, lawyers had been leaving that office, with many moving on to greener pastures. In 2023, DPP Roger Gaspard flagged critical shortages, with the required complement of 129 lawyers being unmet.

If history is anything to go by, we may never have answers as to what was behind Mr Hector’s killing, a killing which feels at once too abhorrent and too familiar in a country still reeling from the assassination of Dana Seetahal, SC, a decade ago and that of Selwyn Richardson, a former AG, in 1995.

That must not be.

All must work to ensure justice is served and that Mr Hector’s death is not in vain.