Maharaj said if the people who committed murder were not prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to hang "the Government would have to have phantom convicted persons." Maharaj suggested that the Government show the country that they can detect and prosecute people who have committed murder.
It is only then, Maharaj said, carrying out the death penalty would be relevant. Maharaj said the PM knows this because in Opposition "we all made that point." Maharaj said Persad-Bissessar's announcement on Friday about bringing back hangings was just a public relations exercise. Maharaj said Persad-Bissessar had put murders into three categories. "She referred to an Act passed in 2000 but which was never implemented. This Government could have implemented that law within the last six months. To implement it really means to proclaim the law, which is an instrument that takes five minutes to prepare."
Chance supports hanging
Wayne Chance, CEO of Vision On Mission, which deals with rehabilitating prisoners, understands that there are crimes that call for the full brunt of the law. "We support the move to resume hangings. If you commit a brutal crime and you are sentenced to death by hanging, we are all for it." Chance said all prisoners on death row should be given an opportunity to prove if they are innocent before facing the hangman's noose. "As long as someone is found guilty the hangman is the way. We are not saying hanging is a deterrent. It is because they have taken lives unjustly, crimes that are premeditated."