Lots of talk, but whose rights at risk?
Dear Editor,
As a senior still in control of my faculties, it’s hard for me to recall a time when the news cycle offered a menu topped by a buffet of interconnectedness.
One can start with the islandwide murder/crime wave, which has led to the recent bloodbath in Spanish Town. Then move on to what seems a farce in the bundling of evidence by both the police and Office of the Director or Public Prosecutions (ODPP) in the ongoing Klansman gang trial.
We can then add the hue and cry by sections of the society regarding both the proposed bail and gun laws. This, in the main, by the bleeding hearts human rights groups who conveniently ignore the rights of the victims to the high-priced lawyers who are basically singing for their supper.
Let’s pause and reflect for a moment.
Who suffers more? The person held without bail for a year or 18 months then found not guilty — not that he is innocent, that’s a totally different thing — or the family of the person he murders while on bail?
Then, there’s the ruling by the Supreme Court that certain conditions under the declared state of emergency is a breach of the rights of citizens.
Notwithstanding, the prime minister just last week introduced a new state of emergency for the parish of St Catherine.
By the way, according to the latest news from the respected news agency Reuters, Jamaica is among the countries with the highest murder rates worldwide.
I serve this all on a platter which contains the news that Jamaican and West Indies cricketing legend Michael Holding, who has lived in England for decades, has retired as a cricket commentator/analyst for Sky Sports and has reportedly settled in the Cayman Islands.
Would love to see how our affable tourism minister negotiates that bouncer.
Very concerned senior