Court orders release of men held for a week without charge

A judge on Tuesday ordered the Hanover police to immediately release two men who spent the past week in custody without being charged with any crime.

Donnovan Collins, the attorney for the two men, said the order was made in the Hanover Parish Court after the hearing of a habeas corpus application.

A third man, who was also taken into custody in Orange Bay on October 25, was released on the weekend without any criminal charge, Collins disclosed.

All three men were travelling in a motor car when they were arrested by the police, the attorney stated.

He said his clients were first told that a senior investigator wanted to "speak with them” and later that the Westmoreland police “had an interest in them.”

But after a week in custody, he said his clients were never interviewed by detectives, placed before an identification parade or charged with any crime.

“It seems this is a common practice for the Hanover police to hold citizens in custody for days without charge, identification parade or a question and answer. This leaves one to wonder if they understand the laws of Jamaica,” Collins charged.

He said the men have instructed him to file a lawsuit against the police for “this breach of their constitutional rights”.

- Livern Barrett

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