Category Archives: Law

Hello, Hindutva

By Raymond Ramcharitar
July 4, 2012 – guardian.co.tt

lettersI could be mistaken, but it seems that the Highway Re-Route Movement activists are using their protests as a medium to deploy a Hindu-centric protest language to address the national community, and (presumably) the Government. Since, looking at the visual statements, a new vernacular is making its debut in the national conversation/cussout, it might be important to point out that we’re not really sure what they’re saying.
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Jack’s lawlessness and Corruptibility

By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
July 03, 2012

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeLife in T&T is very funny business. Yo know way yo going; yo don’t know where yo’ likely to reach. The government declares a state of emergency, arrests over 8,000 black young men under the guises that they are/may be criminals. No charges made, no apologies offered and no compensation paid. In fact, we are told by the AG that if dey tink dey go make any money off the state for these illegal arrests, dey lie. He waiting for them. He would release the legal power of the state against them. They had better not even think about seeking compensation.
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Return of Sheriff Lobo

By Raffique Shah
July 01, 2012

Raffique ShahWHAT more must Jack Warner do to prove that he is unfit to be this country’s Minister of National Security? Declare war on Tobago or Venezuela or Barbados? Introduce a death squad to go around executing persons he suspects of being criminals or gangsters? Arrest and detain persons perceived to be opponents of the People’s Partnership Government?
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Warner was right – Afri-centric analysis

By Dr. Kwame Nantambu
June 29, 2012

Dr. Kwame NantambuThe decision by newly-appointed Minister of National Security, Austin Jack Warner to demolish the “Highway Re-route Movement” camp on government land was the right thing to do.

The fact of the matter is that since T&T has degenerated into a lawless society, now is the time for a totally responsible government to take the bull by the horns and enforce the laws of this country, period. Long-outstanding half measures did not work; in fact, they have exacerbated the crime problem to the nth degree.
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Mother jailed for ignoring child’s sex abuse

By Reshma Ragoonath
June 27, 2012 – guardian.co.tt

VictimA Gasparillo woman who turned a blind eye while her nine-year-old daughter was being sexually abused in their home in 2003 has been jailed for nine months. The woman, who was also ordered to pay a $5,000 fine, appeared before Magistrate Alicia Chankar in the San Fernando court. She was convicted of failing to report to the police that her daughter was being sexually abused by a 20-year-old man.
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A sad situation

Newsday Editorial
Wednesday, June 27 2012

VictimTHERE’S certainly nothing to celebrate about the jailing of a mother for having abused her child, as one wonders how all her children will now fare without her.

We refer to the imposition of a three-year jail sentence on Kamla Ramcharan, 29, of Longdenville, Chaguanas, for burning the left hand of her daughter, Vishala Bikharrie, eight, on a hot tawah, in a supposed attempt to discipline the child for allegedly stealing $5 from a schoolmate.
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PM Announces Cabinet Resuffle

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-BissessarShortly before 8:00 PM tonight, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, announced the highly anticipated reshuffle of her administration. Two Ministers were fired and several others either received promotions or less significant portfolios.

Most significantly, Jack Warner, has been given the National Security Ministry, replacing Brigadier John Sandy.
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Conman of the Caribbean

By Raffique Shah
June 16, 2012

Raffique ShahI SUPPOSE most people digested the news that a US judge jailed conman Allen Stanford for 110 years, yawned, burped and moved on to the next item. Except for victims of the Texan’s multi-billion-dollar swindle, among them a few thousand from the Caribbean who lost their savings chasing a crooked shadow, Stanford’s life sentence for a crime that is commonplace is of little more than academic interest.
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Backward ever, forward never

By Raffique Shah
May 27, 2012

Raffique ShahFOR all our boasts about technological advancements we have achieved—”4G smart phones”, “wifi hotspots”, GPS in vehicles and on phones—it is amazing how we remain mired in backwardness when it comes to dealing with fundamental problems. The classic is carnage on the nation’s roads.

Last Sunday’s horrendous crash that left four people dead and senior Appeal Court Judge Wendell Kangaloo critically injured is a case in point.
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Gone to the dogs

By Raffique Shah
May 20, 2012

Raffique ShahIT’S frustrating enough to have successive governments bark over the Dangerous Dogs Act for more than a decade without proclaiming it law. But it’s exasperating when, just as the woefully inadequate legislation is about to be given a few defective teeth, we have hordes of human-mongrels whining about the rights of these dumb but downright dangerous animals that savage hapless human beings.
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