Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar has accused Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi of attempting to mislead and deceive the population into thinking that 1,300 prisoners are likely to be freed because the Opposition failure to support renewal of the Anti-Gang Act and the Bail (Amendment) Act.
Both Acts have sunset clauses that need a special majority in Parliament or they will expire next month. Persad-Bissessar’s comments followed reports over the weekend that hundreds prisoners in remand are now being considered for bail by the State from August 15.
Al-Rawi has warned that the release of the prisoners, who are facing charges of kidnapping for ransom, could be a security risk to the country. He said the Opposition’s decision to blank the Bail Bill extension means he will now have to make certain amendments to the Bail Act.
In a statement yesterday, Persad-Bissessar described the AG’s claims as “mischievous, baseless and politically malicious” and said they were “designed to score cheap political points at the expense of truth and accuracy and to engender fear in the population.”
She said when Anti Gang Act was passed by her People’s Partnership administration in 2011, it was criticised by the PNM including then Senator Al-Rawi.
She said the AG has so far failed to supply the Opposition with information requested on the number of persons arrested, charged, and convicted under the Anti-Gang Act
“Having regard to the AG’s failure to disclose this information, we wish to publicly ask for same and signal our intention to file applications under the Freedom of Information Act to ensure that he cannot avoid fulfilling his public duty to do so,” she said.
Persad-Bissessar added: “The Opposition cannot in good conscience blindly support legislation that was passed for a specific period of time as a temporary measure to assist in the fight against crime.
It must necessarily undertake a critical analysis and evaluation to determine the success and effectiveness of the legislation. Indeed that is the very purpose of a sunset clause in legislation.”
She said it was untrue for Al-Rawi to “repeat ad nauseum the obvious headline grabbing phrase that 1300 persons will now suddenly be granted bail.”
The Opposition Leader explained: “Such persons (assuming but not admitting the number is accurate) will simply be entitled to apply for bail and the Court has the discretion to either grant or refuse bail, taking into account a wide range of factors, including the seriousness of the offence, their prior criminal records etc.
She said about 700 of the 1300 prisoners have already been granted bail, but cannot access it. She said they were not denied bail under the Anti-gang and Bail Amendment Acts
“The Attorney General’s desire to sensationalise and provide misinformation has not escaped this issue. The Attorney General is reported to have stated that there are 2300 persons on remand in the nation’s prisons. As of today the number of persons on remand in the nation’s prisons is 2,101, 341 at Fredrick Street, and 703 at the Maximum Security Prison and 1057 at the Golden Grove Prison, almost 200 less than that stated by the Attorney General.
“Consequently, if as the AG stated there are 1000 on murder charges and so not entitled to bail and, about another 700 have already been granted bail but cannot access same, then the numbers who may become entitled for bail after August 15th would be about 400 persons,” she said.
Responding to the AG’s warning that prisoners facing charges of kidnapping for ransom are due to be release, posing a security risk to the country after August 16, Persad-Bissessar said the Miscellaneous Provisions (Bail and Kidnapping) Act 2011 governs the refusal of bail to persons charged with kidnapping for ransom and contains no sunset clause so it remains in force.
She said: “The Opposition will not be bullied, intimidated and railroaded by the cheap antics of the AG on such an important issue when all it is seeking is simple data on the number of persons denied bail under the laws that we were being asked to support.
“Further, in all of the circumstances, we were correct to do what we did given the context; we will support or not support a Bill based on the merit of the Bill, its context, and the approach of Government in taking the Opposition’s views into account and most importantly whether the proposed legislation is genuinely in the public interest.”