What if it was your son?

Fourteen-year-old Aleem Ali was murdered. His burnt and chopped body was found by his uncle in the bushes in Arouca in March, last year. Three schoolboys (all former pupils of Five Rivers Secondary School) were arrested and charged for his murder. Last week, Senior Magistrate Deborah Quintyne dismissed the case, because the prosecution was never ready to proceed with it.

The case had been calling and adjourning for almost a year now, while the three young accused remained in jail. The inexcusable delay was due to the fact that the investigator, PC Gary Huggins, is yet to submit the case file to the DPP. Aleem’s father was understandably hurt by the decision. “Just now it will be a year since Aleem was murdered. Right now I do not know what to do. My family has been robbed of justice,” he said. “I went to court faithfully; I just sat there shocked when I heard what happened. I felt helpless. I see meh son face. This matter call 17 times and put off all the time.”

The DPP can have the accused re-indicted, but the pain and frustration of the father show how the justice system is failing and directly contributing to crime. Who to blame? The police officer who, one year later, hasn’t submitted the file to the DPP? Perhaps he is a good officer who is simply overworked. Or, is he among the many hopeless incompetents that adorn police stations across the country?

Would Trevor Paul take off his dancing shoes and bother to call this officer and launch an immediate inquiry? Nah, he too busy shining Martin Joseph’s shoes. What about our well-intentioned Christopher Thomas, chairman of the Police Service Commission, which is responsible for reviewing the Police Commissioner’s job performance? Would the Commission take any disciplinary action?

How could our overworked and underpaid DPP miss this one? Did he not call for the investigator to submit the file, having decided to charge for murder, knowing the defendants would be incarcerated without bail? Did he write letters demanding the file and complain to the hapless Trevor Paul, when it never came? What about the police prosecutor, acting Sgt Mark Maharaj who, time and again, stood up in court and begged for an adjournment, promising that the State would be ready the next time. Did he, as a senior officer contact his junior, PC Huggins, to inquire what was causing the delay? Did he report PC Huggins to Trevor Paul, as he should? Did he forewarn that this matter could be dismissed because the State was never ready? And what about the magistrate? Should she have given the prosecution one last chance? Summon the DPP? Not when three young men who must be presumed innocent have been in jail languishing.

The nation is engulfed in and overwhelmed by crime. Instead of declaring a limited state of emergency in the hot crime zones to flush out the guns and drugs, this PNM administration is working overtime to ensure criminals encircle us by distributing them across the nation in strategically-built housing settlements. In the midst of all this suffering and pain, the party has planned a massive fete to celebrate its victory.

The Prime Minister’s indifference towards the upsurge in crime has set the tone and pace for the Government’s flippancy. The decline in crime in the run-up to the election and the dramatic explosion afterwards repeated itself in the last three general elections. It suggests the PNM is able to press the “pause” and “play” buttons on crime when it desires. It would be politically-incorrect to say it, but the question needs to be asked: Are criminals supporting the PNM?

This would explain the unspoken understanding that allows Manning a crime-free passage during elections and the kid glove approach to the crime problem. As Manning meets party faithfuls, he will no doubt promise them “the safest Carnival ever.”

My plea to the PM and his gang is that while they celebrate, wine, jam and fete, spare a thought for 14-year-old Aleem Ali, and ask yourself: “What if he were my son?”

By Anand Ramlogan 2008-01-13