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Prime Minister Gaston Browne
While speaking on the Browne and Browne Show over the weekend, Prime Minister Gaston Browne revealed that he is not in favor of capital punishment.
The topic of the death penalty has come to the forefront once again in Antigua and Barbuda after hundreds of residents have been demanding its return following the alleged abduction and murder of nine-year-old Chantel Crump.
Capital punishment has long been a topic of divide – not only in Antigua and Barbuda, but worldwide – as some believe it is inhumane to take a life and that these convicted felons should instead serve life in prison.
Others believe it is a justified punishment for the level of crimes these criminals have committed.
And while many residents believe it would be a justified penalty for such a heinous crime, the PM sits on the other side of the fence on the matter with his beliefs.
“We have actually strengthened the fines and sentences for heinous crimes. We have practically doubled the time spent in jail. Insofar as capital punishment, I can’t tell you that I am a fan of capital punishment. Killing people is just wrong at all levels and I don’t know if reprisal killings for somebody that kills, that that in itself is a solution to anything, but that’s just my personal opinion. Again, I do not think it is a deterrence,” Browne said.
While he accepted that there are persons who would like to see its return, he cautioned that the legal impediments could work in favor of these death row inmates.
He was referencing the Pratt and Morgan case where once a criminal spends more than five years in prison then it is inhumane to keep them locked up and then follow through with the death sentence.
“The judicial system is such that a person who is convicted of a homicide can almost invariably drag it out for five years, and then, you have your sentence virtually commuted to life imprisonment. There are some limitations there, even though some people argue that they would like to see the return of the death penalty,” he added.
Residents took the streets on Saturday morning protesting in front of the Police Headquarters on Queen Elizabeth Highway calling for the death penalty and for justice to be served for Chantel.
A young woman, 20-year-old Angela Mejia has been subsequently charged with Crump’s murder less than 24 hours after the young girl’s lifeless body was discovered hidden in bushes in the Weatherills area on Saturday morning.
It is alleged that Mejia abducted the child in a Honda car on Number 2 George Street in Grays Farm on Wednesday afternoon, just as the Five Islands Primary student was making her way home from school.
Witness accounts; some of her classmates, suggest that Chantel waved goodbye to her schoolmates from the vehicle, marking the last time she was seen alive.
Upon her arrest, Mejia reportedly led law enforcement officials to the location where Chantel’s body was found, further intensifying the public’s outrage and outcry for justice.
The tragic circumstances of Chantel’s death have sparked nationwide calls for swift legal action against those responsible.
Acting Commissioner Everton Jeffers is calling on residents of Grays Farm and the wider communities to remain calm and exercise patience, while the police continue with their investigation.
He further reassures the nation that no efforts are being spared to ensure full closure is brought to this matter.
He appeals to anyone with additional information to contact the Criminal Investigations Department at 462-3913 or call the Crimestoppers anonymous hotline number at 800-8477.
I totally agree with the PM
Sorry My Brother, Gaston. Love you but I disagree.
The killer of this little 9 year old girl should be made to pay the ultimate price especially in this case.
We also have several persons missing and might be dead. So the trend is that this behavior of kidnapping and murdering must be deterred.
One of the ways to likely combat this should be taking any person who is guilty of this crime of killing life as punishment.
Why should they kill and then be allowed to live at tax payers expense. Absolutely not.
People must fear something. You kill, you must be killed.
Hanging the perpetrators would be a very easy way out. How about torturing – let them feel the pain and agony that little girl experienced before she gave her last breath. The death penalty is not something that the government can implement on its own. It has to go through higher levels of the government and has to be approved by the Brits. My prayers are with that innocent little girl’s family, close friends and the community at large. I am also praying for those that disappeared without a trace …… this incident could lead to unopened doors of these cases. May God have mercy upon us all.
And the point is?……
What exactly is your purpose of this article? Boy, one of the many lessons learned from this recent tragedy: Satan roams this land inall forms and media, seeking whom itmay devour. Be very watchful, my people.
My beloved Prime Minister, in a case such as this, the perpetrator (s) must die….not five years from now. Not four, three, two, nor one. It’s clearcut who committed the murder…the gruesomness and cruelty with which it was committed and the innocence of the victim. That murdering bitch and any and all who assisted her must come to a swift end!!!
The purpose of the article? Were there any opinions given in this article at all? The purpose of this article from what I can see, is to inform readers of an event that happened. That’s what journalism is. The purpose only becomes subjective when it is filtered through a reader’s own political biases.
What is the point of prisons? Just fine, beat or kill the perpetrators. It would save us money. Fine them for weed, if they can’t pay bang them rass. And in cases with the little girl just hang them.
That’s why Antigua has so much damn heneous crimes.. now they are attacking our innocent children. Aren’t you seeing what is going on in this little Antigua of ours. Bring back capital punishment please. We need to make examples out of these demonic, satanic people out there
Hmm smh ✍️ let’s hope they don’t let her walk the streets to hurt another baby again
Dear Prime Minister,
It would be very easy for you at this moment to ride the wave of collective anger and satisfy these bloodthirsty people.
The fact that you have decided to remain level-headed does you credit. The difference between a politician and a statesman is that the politician only thinks about the present, because the present is his political future (which is the only thing that really interests him), while the statesman thinks about the future of the next generations. And there is no future for a people that lowers itself to the same level as criminals, applying the law of retaliation. Crime statistics everywhere have confirmed that the death penalty is not at all a deterrent to reducing homicides. The death penalty is only a disgrace for any state based on the rule of law. An indelible stain on our civilization. Hands off Cain!
I wonder if you would express the same sentiments had that been your child.