A declaration from the prime minister that inmates serving at least 35 years in correctional facilities, without being tried, should be released, and a promise by the chief justice to establish a task force to look at the present law, and procedures relating to individuals in custody with mental illness, have not been enough to stop a local group from heading to court to try to prevent another Noel Chambers case.
Yesterday, the human rights group Stand up for Jamaica (SUFJ) announced that it is heading to court to seek the release of two inmates who have been in prison for more than 40 years each without being convicted.
“We have been reading the INDECOM (Independent Commission of Investigations) report and we strongly support the concerns of INDECOM about inmates who have been detained for years, on top of years, and for a time that is longer that it is supposed to be for the crime that they were alleged to have committed,” added Gullotta.
According to Gullotta, SUFJ has sought the services of human rights attorney Isat Buchanan to file the necessary applications to have the two inmates transferred to the jurisdiction of the court.
The issue of inmates lost in the prison system after initially deemed unfit to plead was brought by to the front burner last week after INDECOM released its report for the first quarter of this year.
