By Nalinee Seelal
February 03, 2012 – newsday.co.tt
POLICE officers last night charged Arlene Blackman — Principal of Blackman’s Private School in Maraval — with two counts of Cruelty to Children, under the Children’s Act, Chap 46:01, Section III(I), for allegedly placing the head of two students in a toilet bowl at her school and flushing it.
Continue reading Principal Charged with Cruelty to Children
By Raffique Shah
January 21, 2012
JUSTICE Minister Herbert Volney invariably comes across as a joker in the theatre of the macabre…a kind of black humour specialist.
He seems not to know whether his role is to make people laugh, cry or have a compelling urge to throttle him. He cannot decide if he is an entertainer, intimidator or Soca Monarch contender.
Continue reading Joker wild in Cabinet
4 DEAD, 7 INJURED
By Sasha Harrinanan and Alexander Bruzual
December 21, 2011 – newsday.co.tt
Screams for help from women and children trapped in a raging fire filled the night in Trou Macaque, Laventille where four people burnt to death and seven were injured as they leapt from the balconies on the top floor of a five-storey HDC apartment building which had been firebombed.
Tenants and neighbours tried in vain to help the families living in two of the top floor apartments of Building 2, one of which had been doused in gasolene and set on fire in a deliberate attack by a brother of the occupants who lived there at about 1 am yesterday.
Continue reading Arson in Laventille: 4 Dead
By Derren Joseph
December 05, 2011
Britain’s Channel 4 aired a documentary called Trinidad: Guns, Drugs and Secrets. On the night in question, I deliberately avoided watching it. The following day, as I signed onto Facebook, I saw links to it on so many profiles that I ended up watching the whole thing—twice. The two interviews that I found most interesting were the one with the resident from Laventille and the one with the Security Adviser to the Prime Minister. For me, these two represented the opposing sides of this ongoing debate over the state of emergency (SoE) and the current Government’s approach to crime.
Continue reading Detaining ‘big fish, small fish’
By Raffique Shah
November 27, 2011
PRIME Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s credibility is on the line with allegations of a plot to assassinate her and three of her ministers. This latest drama, coming at the tail end of a contentious State of Emergency, has drawn scepticism from many quarters. The PM and her security chiefs must now deliver the heads of the would-be assassins on the proverbial platter, or face loss of face and much more debilitating political fallout.
Continue reading PM’s Credibility at Stake
By Dr. Kwame Nantambu
October 09, 2011
Apology for Slavery
In April 2006, the Church of England voted “to apologize to the descendants of victims of the slave trade” and in March 2007, considered paying reparations.
Continue reading Question of Apology for Slavery and Reparations: Updated
By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
October 04, 2011
I hate to be on Keith Rowley’s case but Rowley (and by extension the PNM) is really missing the pulse of the people and, in the process, failing to take the lead politically in the society. A serious party must be the elevated consciousness of a people. The leadership of the PNM has not shown such leadership in this crisis. We are following rather than leading the masses and that is not good for the party. It speaks volumes about Rowley’s leadership abilities.
Continue reading Sandy Must Stay!
By Raffique Shah
October 2, 2011
I HAVE always seen sexual assault of a woman as the most heinous crime a man could commit. There are other gruesome criminal acts, of course, such as murder by multiple chop-wounds, kidnapping and torturing victims, and brutal acts of violence against children and geriatrics who cannot defend themselves. Some may argue that all crimes in which the victims suffer physical abuse can be deemed heinous.
Continue reading Encounters with serial rapists
Suspect in Central rapes surrenders on ‘Crime Watch’
By Gyasi Gonzales and Camille Bethel
UPDATED: September 25, 2011 – Trinidad Express
Four men are now in police custody for the robbery and rape of the Central mother and daughter and police say the arrest of a fifth man in connection with the incident is imminent.
Masked men broke into the family’s house in Longdenville, Chaguanas, around 2.30 a.m. on Thursday, raping the 49-year-old mother and her 17-year-old daughter and beating her two sons who were at home at the time. They stole cash and jewelry and the family’s car.
Continue reading Suspects Nabbed for Rape of Mother and Daughter
By Anika Gumbs-Sandiford
September 18, 2011 – guardian.co.tt
Back off! This is the strong message being sent by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard to “office holders” regarding the arrest of citizens under the state of emergency. Warning that he would “continue to jealously guard his office at all cost,” Gaspard, in an exclusive interview with Sunday Guardian, said his office would continue to act independently. On the Attorney General’s decision to retain a battery of attorneys to assist with the prosecution of matters under the state of emergency, Gaspard said: “No other office holder would be allowed to choose any attorney for me for the prosecution of any matter; that choice remains exclusively mine.” On the issue of the perception of a war between the AG and the DPP, Gaspard said: “I know of no war between the AG and myself. There are no winners in war. I humbly prefer simply to continue to do my work soberly so as to protect and advance the public’s interest.”
Continue reading DPP tells ‘office holders’ back off