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Child killer pardon…Ramotar defends decision
Less than a week after Donald Ramotar pardoned child killer Ravindra Deo, the former President has defended the presidential pardon. He says that it is within his rights as the President to pardon the man.
Murdered eight-year-old Vishnu Bhim
Ramotar was hesitant to speak on the matter during a press conference held yesterday at Freedom House.
During a round of questioning with media operatives, Ramotar maintained that he would not deal with the issue of the presidential pardon at that time. Even though reporters continued to press the matter, Ramotar emphasised that the press conference was not called to address the pardon and questions outside of the matters at hand would not be entertained.
However, when pressed, Ramotar said that the pardon had been within his presidential rights. He said, too, that he believed 21 years was already a long time to be incarcerated.
“The man spent more than half of his life in prison,” he added.
From Ramotar’s words, it seems as though mercy played a role in his decision.
When further questioned on why he had specifically chosen Deo for pardon, Ramotar simply said that the man’s case had been the only one he knew about.
Former Presidential Advisor, Gail Teixeira, explained to this publication that Deo had been one person who had requested a pardon through the Committee for the Prerogative of Mercy.
This committee, she said, is a constitutional advisory body to the President that informs the President of requests from persons on death row for pardoning. The body also makes recommendations.
She said that the process is one that takes a long time. Deo’s case would probably have been under review for quite some time, she said. She emphasised that the committee is constitutionally covered and had been there when the PPP/C went into office.
“That body is the one that would say to the President or recommend to the President, this particular case was worthy of consideration,” she added.
Ravindra Deo walked out the Georgetown Prisons on May 16 after two decades of imprisonment. He was found guilty in 1995 of kidnapping and murdering eight-year-old Vishnu Bhim as the Annandale, East Coast Demerara child was heading home from school. At the time, Deo was 19 years old.
Since the pardoning, several persons have expressed their dismay with the former President’s decision including the group, Guyana Coalition for Children.
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