National Security Minister Edmund Dillon has condemned Prisons Officers Association president Ceron Richards for allegedly calling for his members to engage in illegal industrial action.
In a press release issued late yesterday, Dillon’s ministry said that he had received reports of a voice recording attributed to Richards being circulated on social media yesterday.
In the recording, Richard’s is alleged to have called upon his colleagues to stay away from work to protest the Government’s failure to address the safety concerns of prisons officers, following the recent murders of two.
The release said Dillon obtained and listened to the recording and was concerned and dissatisfied as it is illegal as members of the protective services and teachers are not allowed to engage in protest action.
“Minister Dillon condemns and criticises in the strongest possible manner the content of the recording and the author of the recording for encouraging that the law be broken and for illegal activity to be carried out,” Dillon said.
He also called upon prison officers to reject Richard’s alleged call.
“The Ministry of National Security trusts that all Prison Officers will ignore, reject and denounce any attempt by anyone, including the president of the Prisons Officers Association, to prevent them from lawfully carrying out their duties and responsibilities to secure the prisons in T&T,” the release said.
It also noted that the issue was referred to the Office of the Attorney General to determine if legal action could be brought against Richards for the recording.
However, when contacted yesterday, Richards denied any wrongdoing from him and members of his organisation.
“No one from the Prisons Officers Association inclusive of myself told or directed any prison officer to protest or to take any action. No one!”
Richards said as he stated that he got a call from Dillon before the ministry issued its release.
Referring to protest action taken by officers following a series of murders of their colleagues in 2013, Richards said he merely predicted that a similar situation may occur following two more murders this month.
“It was easy to predict the hurt from the barrage of calls that I have been getting,” Richards said.
He said that after the action was taken without the support of the association, former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar appointed a special committee to investigate issues in prisons.
However, he noted that very few of the recommendations related to prison officers’ security were implemented.
He accused the Government of using him as a scapegoat to “pass the buck” over issues within the Prison Service.
“They murdering us with impunity but no government putting laws in place. Nobody is creating a deterrent,” Richards said as he called for prison legislation reform to be placed high on the legislative agenda of Parliament.
The most recent murder of a prisons officer was last Thursday, when Glenford Gardener, 44, of Bagatelle, Diego Martin, was shot and killed outside his home.
Gardener was the 17th prison officer to be killed in the past 15 years.
His murder came weeks after Richard Sandy, a father of five, was shot dead by an ex-convict while liming at a bar in Gasparillo on October 8.