CATEGORY:SPECIAL REPORT
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By Team Grenada

Saturday December 02,2006



RICHMOND HILL, St. George’s – At around 0925 hrs (9.25 am) this morning, three inmates at the Richmond Hill Prison came through the gates of the penitentiary to breathe the fresh and exhilarating air of freedom.

The three men – Cosmos Richardson, Andy Mitchell and Vincent Joseph (former soldiers during the rule of the Peoples Revolutionary Government headed by slain Prime Minister Maurice Bishop) – emerged from the prison looking in good physical condition and were greeted by family members, friends and a few prominent businessmen. There were many persons from the media present to cover this event.

When asked if they had any comments to make to the media, the men stated that comments will be made through their lawyer, Mr. Keith Scotland, at a press conference scheduled for 10.30 am at the law office of one of Grenada’s prominent lawyers. One of the men made his first telephone call as a ‘free man’ to inform the the unknown recipient that he was alright and that they would be seeing each other shortly.

The three men then entered separate vehicles and were driven off to undisclosed destinations.

All three men were sentenced to thirty years in prison after they were found guilty of manslaughter following their role in the October 19, 1983 murders of Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and several of his supporters. They were released early – after 23 years –for good behavior. Under the laws governing sentencing regulations, prisoners could be released after serving one-third of their sentence if they were deemed to be industrious and well behaved.

The Grenadian Government stated that the release of the three men was not as a result of any court ruling.