By Trevor Thwaites (St. George's correspondent)

ST.GEORGE’S, Grenada: The Privy Council has rejected the petition filed for the release of Cosmos Richardson, Andy Mitchell and Vincent Joseph – three of the 17sentenced to life imprisonment for the brutal execution of former Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and his cabinet colleagues on October 19, 1983. The three and the other former revolutionaries have been imprisoned have now 26 years after the US Army restored law and order to the country on October 25, 1983, following one week of marital rule by the Revolutionary Military Council (RMC)

Justice Byron Alleyne in a very unpopular judgement four years ago, ruled that the three should be released forthwith after Attorney at Law Keith Scotland representing Ciboney Chambers, had filed a motion for the immediate release of the men. The motion contended that the sentence imposed by Justice Bryon was illegal and contrary to the criminal procedure of Grenada. However, the state represented by Attorney General Hugh Wildman successfully sought a stay of the judge’s ruling from the Court of Appeal, because the three men were sentenced to three 15 year sentences to run consecutively and not concurrently as contented by Scotland.

In judgement handed down on Wednesday July 5, the Privy Council ruled in favour of the state and dismissed the petition filed for the release of the three men, a decision that is most welcomed by the government. “What is significant about the ruling of the Privy Council is that the argument it used to reject the petition was the same argument that I propounded on the television and other places when the matter was current, when I made the point that the judge was wrong because he gave a wrong interpretation of the criminal court,” Wildman told the press during a press conference last Wednesday in St George’s.

He said that it was the contention of Judge Alleyne that the death of Bishop and his cabinet ministers and others died as a result of one act, despite the death of several persons. “I took a different view, I said that it was one incident, but several acts of criminality. I was taken to task for that. But I am happy to see that the Privy Council has upheld my argument that what happened at the Fort was not one act, but several acts, because the killing of each one represents a different criminal act. It is not correct to say that the judge in sentencing the men to more than one 15 year sentence was wrong. He was right because it was not one act; it was several acts of criminality,” Wildman,” pointed out. The Legal Advisor to the government is elated with the judgement, because he said that the case was one the issues that was used against him when he attempted to capture the job of Attorney General. “This is important because, it is one of the issues the Grenada Bar Association canvassed against me. So I feel vindicated by this decision.”



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