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July 22, 2008
News Brief
Former Reggae Boy on Trial for Ganja Charges
Former Reggae Boys player, Onandi Lowe, will be appearing before the court, as his trial will begin today. He will be appearing on trial for breaching the Dangerous Drugs Act; following an incident in St. Catherine last December, where he was involved in a ganja affair.
When he appeared before the court recently his travel documents were confiscated.
Although Lowe will be on trial he believes he wasn't treated with equity, as the officers did not locate the ganja in his possession. However, the police officers stated that they stopped the motor vehicle in which Lowe was a passenger and conducted a search where they allegedly found the marijuana. Other passengers in the vehicle were also arrested.
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New Crime Stategies to be revealed by Prime Minister
With the increase in the level of criminal activities in Jamaica, it has been reported by The STAR that Prime Minister Bruce Golding will today be announcing the new crime strategies that will be implemented. It was anticipated that this announcement would have been made last week.
Mr. Golding has assured that harsher policies will be implemented, as his aim is to have a significant decrease in the level of crimes being committed presently, as more that 900 persons have been killed since the start of the year.
Police officers will now be able to detain individuals for up to 28 days without charge; offenders may be refused bail for gun-related offences for the first 90 days, and provision will be made for majority verdict in non-capital murder cases. These are among the new legislative changes that will be announced.
Mr Golding has, however, been receiving objections towards some of his new measures and changes. Convenor of Families Against State Terrorism, Yvonne McCalla- Sobers, has expressed that the new policies will not help the country's current crime problem as the measures are exceedingly harsh.
Executive Director of Jamaicans for Justice, Dr. Carolyn Gomes, another objector to the measures, strongly believes that the government has finally gotten the opportunity to use the crime situation that the island is currently facing, as an excuse to violate the rights of individuals.
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Prisoners Attempt Jail Break
After an attempted jailbreak and riot, thirty suspected inmates from the Gun Court Remand Centre on South Camp Road were transferred yesterday to the Horizon Remand Centre on Spanish Town Road.
It was reported by The Constabulary Communication Network (CCN) that the riot began at about 9:00 am when workmen went to repair damaged burglar bars and locks.
After the chanting and the destroying of the locks by the inmates, The Mobile Reserve, the Department of Correctional Services and the Jamaica Defence Force were summoned to help restore order to the facility. Tear gas had to be used to suppress the prisoners.
All the inmates at the facility have been convicted of serious offences; from murders to firearm charges.
This is the second time since last week that the prisoners have attempted a jail break. The first attempt was on July 17th, when police officers realized that a ventilation grill had been removed from one of the blocks.