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Feb 6, 2014

The P.U.P.’s draft bill to amend the Crime Control and Criminal Justice Act and the Firearms Act

In response to a sustained outcry against the Firearms Act, as amended in 2008, Minister of National Security John Saldivar stood in the House on Wednesday to say that his government is prepared to look at the Act with a view to possibly revising it. The matter was actually brought up by P.U.P. leader Francis Fonseca, and the party went even further today. At a press briefing at Independence Hall this afternoon, P.U.P. leader Francis Fonseca, flanked by attorneys Kareem Musa and Anthony Sylvestre, presented a draft bill to amend the Crime Control and Criminal Justice Act and the Firearms Act. The proposed amendments address primarily the matters of bail and the powers of the magistrate.

FOR VIDEO CLICK HERE.

Kareem Musa, P.U.P. Attorney

“The first amendment to the law that we are proposing is that the restriction of the granting of bail be limited to those three categories—those three categories of prevalent offences. But even then, we in the People’s United Party felt that it was of utmost importance in relation to those three offences that there also be a proviso that would once again vest in the magistrate the authority to grant bail for special extenuated circumstances to be recorded in writing. We must trust that our magistrate, like our supreme court judges, have the wisdom and the knowledge to know who deserves to be granted bail and who does not. Repeat offenders who have previous or prior convictions for instance ought not to be granted bail, but a pregnant woman or a high school student with no previous convictions ought not to be treated like a common criminal the way they are today.”

 

Kareem Musa

Francis Fonseca, P.U.P. Leader

“The clear signal from the government yesterday—the Minister of National Security speaking on behalf of the government—was that they were certainly prepared to look at the law, to review the law, to revise the law and so this is our contribution to that. And I have no reason to believe that that will not be taken into support in good faith. So we will submit it to the ministry. The next step is for us to submit it to the Ministry of National Security, the minister as well as to the Director of Public Prosecutions and the attorney general office, the solicitor general, as our contribution to the discussion, as our recommendation to amending the law. So that will be the next step.”

 

Kareem Musa

“In no way are we trying to take credit for the public pressure that COLA have brought to the government. We are not sitting here to take credit for that Jules. We are not here trying to take credit away from anybody. Those people are one hundred percent entitled to take credit for that along with the police department who were out there in solidarity for Gino Peck. That cannot be understated; those people deserve credit. What we are doing today is the responsible thing, the thing that your government is not doing which is to propose the law, which is to amend the law. That is what we are doing here today. We are making proposals to change the law now—not two years from now so more people can get locked up—now.”


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1 Response for “The P.U.P.’s draft bill to amend the Crime Control and Criminal Justice Act and the Firearms Act”

  1. Stuart says:

    Where is Julius? did they internally tell him to stop the antics, shut up and sit down and stop trying to steal the leader’s limelight?

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