St Rose threatens to leave PP over hangings

Verna St Rose-Greaves is standing firm on her objection to capital punishment for murder and she is threatening to leave the People's Partnership if the Government brings back hanging.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar appointed St Rose-Greaves recently as her Special Adviser on Children’s Affairs.

But the self proclaimed "abolitionist" is adamant that hangings are barbaric and don't belong in a civilised society.

And she said on national radio Monday that she will leave the government if it goes ahead with plans to resume hangings. “I will have no choice but to step out,” she said.

“I have spoken to people on death row in several countries, I have spoken to murder victims’ families...I have raised children whose parents have been killed,” St Rose-Greaves said.

“I have raised children who have killed people, in the context of the state, in the context of welfare, and I know there were things that needed to be done that were not done as a society,” she added.

She suggested that the government should consider other forms of punishment. “How do we pull back and have those conversations that will allow for us to even consider other things like how do we take care of our children,” she said.

“What about our prisons? What are some of the things that led us to the place that we are in? How do we roll back and put things in place that will counteract some of the fallouts? What do we do for victims?” she asked.

The Kamla administration is seriously considering a return to hangings. Works Minister Jack Warner raised the issue recently, suggesting that it would help reduce crime. And Attorney General Anand Ramlogan has stated publicly that hangings will resume.

Secretary General Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) told the Guardian he and his organisation are of the firm view that "only strong measures could bring back the old days when life and property were respected and protected.”

And Yacoob Ali, president of ASJA also supports the death penalty for murder. He told the paper Islam supports capital punishment and added that there should be also compensation by the offender to the family of the slain. "We have absolutely no objection to the death penalty being reinstated,” he said.

Read more: St Rose opposes hanging, corporal punishment in schools