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Guyanese in Trinidad jail seeking clemency for 1985 murder

Feb 15, 2010 News

A Guyanese who is serving a life sentence in Trinidad is seeking clemency for his involvement in the murder of a businessman in the Twin-Island Republic 25 years ago.
The prisoner, Jainarine Persaud, along with fellow Guyanese Girgadat Sewpersaud and Deolall Sukhram, murdered Ashton Ramkelawansingh at Number Two Maraj Street in Tunapuna in April 1985.
According to a petition by Persaud’s attorneys, the three men had migrated to Trinidad in the hope of earning a living there.
The victim, Ashton Ramkelawansingh, had teamed up with Jainarine Persaud to start a footwear business. Initially, Persaud ran the business alone, but then brought in his relatives, Girgadat Sewpersaud and Deolall Sukhram to assist.
About a week before the killing, the business folded. On March 31, 1985, there was an argument between the Trinidadian businessman and Persaud over money owed to the Guyanese. The argument escalated and Persaud alleged that he was assaulted and retaliated by hitting Ramkelawansingh in the head with a piece of wood.
The victim collapsed in a motionless state, and thinking that he was dead, Persaud engaged the assistance of Sewpersaud and Sukhram to hide the body.
“It was then that a decision was made to grab what they could and return home,” the petition stated.
It is alleged that the men then hatched a plot to stage a fake kidnapping of the deceased and demand a ransom. They then carried out the plan and collected some money and fled to Guyana.
However, the trio was arrested some 11days later in Guyana. In June, 1985, they were extradited to Trinidad to face trial for murder, and were convicted and sentenced to death in January, 1988.
Appeals against their conviction were dismissed in March 1993.
In 1994, leave to appeal to the Privy Council was refused.
However, their death sentences were commuted to life imprisonment after being on death row for over five years.
According to submissions by the men’s attorneys, it is acknowledged that a prisoner serving a life sentence should serve a period of time for the purposes of retribution and deterrence.
“Since the prisoners have been in custody for over 21 years and have already served 12 years in custody after the dismissal of their appeals, it is contended that they have already served adequate period of time to satisfy the needs for retribution and deterrence.”
“The fact that the prison Rules of Trinidad and Tobago enable a prisoner sentenced to life imprisonment to have his sentence reviewed after only four years indicated that even after four years may be considered adequate sentence for punishment and deterrence. In 2006, 12 years have elapsed in the case of each prisoner,” the petition stated.
“While it is a fact that it has been said that a term of life imprisonment does not on average exceed 13 to 15 years…in many instances ‘lifers’ have served less than that time. Further, since the date of conviction, the prisoners have been in custody for over 18 years, six of those on death row.”
The prisoners argued that as convicts in a foreign land, they were at a great disadvantage.
“Our relatives and friends are not in a financial position to come and visit as they would like.”
“Unlike the British, Canadian, American…prisoners, we cannot benefit from the “Commonwealth Scheme for the Transfer of Convicted Offenders”, or the “Transfer of Sentenced Persons Convention.”
“That is, we cannot go back to our homeland to serve our sentence. Unfortunately, Guyana is still not a party to any of those agreements.”
In practice, a life sentence in this country is usually between 12 to 15 years. So how come we are still here after 21 full ‘calendar years?”

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