Opposition Leader Godwin Friday says that his confidence in the judicial system in St. Vincent and the Grenadines is “profoundly shaken”.
“I know that as an officer of the court — that’s why you put it in there — I’m supposed to say yes. But, truthfully, my confidence in the system is profoundly shaken because of the many things we’ve discussed here,” Friday said on Boom FM on Tuesday.
“And we have to have more certainty in the outcome. You have to have prosecution based on offences not on the persons who are involved. And everybody has to be treated fairly before the law.”
He said the adage that “justice is blind” doesn’t mean that it doesn’t see when a criminal offence is committed but that justice is blind to the persons who come before it “so that you are treated equal”.
The opposition leader said this is not happening in SVG and it is very clear.
“And when that is a situation that arises, then again, it makes people feel that they don’t trust the system. They have no respect for the system and marry that to the original problem I spoke about, the trust between the police and the policed,” he said.
“It is not a situation where it’s the police on one side and people on the other. It should be the police and the people on the same side and crime and criminals on the other side.”
Friday was speaking on a radio programme that focused heavily on the fact that Lucresha Nanton, 35, a registered nurse, who pleaded guilty to possession of 60 kilograms of cocaine at Owia Clinic, was jailed for two years and 10 months.
Nanton pleaded not guilty to a charge that she had the cocaine for the purpose of drug trafficking and the prosecution withdrew that charge.
The opposition leader further said that his confidence in the constabulary is also shaken.