Relatives of the ten men incarcerated for the murder of Thackoor Boodram protest outside the Hall of Justice seeking to reopen their case. #justice #protest #T&T
A video posted by T&T Guardian (@ttguardian) on Jan 19, 2015 at 7:51am PST
Relatives of 10 men sentenced to death for the beheading of a drug baron's brother protested out the Hall of Justice this morning seeking to re-open the case.
On August 7, 2001, Michael "Rat" Maharaj, Samuel Maharaj, Damien "Tommy" Ramiah, Bobby Ramiah, Seenath "Farmer" Ramiah, Daniel "Fella" Gopaul, Richard Huggins, Leslie Huggins, Mark "Bico" Jaikaran and Junior "Heads" Phillip were all convicted of Thackoor Boodram's murder and sentenced to hang.
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Boodram was kidnapped and beheaded in 1997. He was the brother of Nankisoon Boodram, also known as Dole Chadee. Chadee, a notorious drug baron, and his gang was executed by the State in 1999.
This morning, close to 50 people gathered at the headquarters of the judiciary calling on President Anthony Carmona to use his powers to direct the Appeal Court to review the safety of their convictions after the main witness against them admitted he lied.
Protesters bore placards declaring, "Mr President justice is denied," "Free the condemn men" "Justice should not be for the rich and famous but for the poor as well" and chanted, "We want justice."
Moonia Ramiah, whose three sons–Damien "Tommy" Ramiah, Bobby Ramiah and Seenath "Farmer" Ramiah–are among the convicts were among the protestors. Another son, Joey Ramiah, was executed, along with eight other men, by the State in 1999 for the murder of the Baboolal family.
"It have innocent men in jail, they not doing anything for poor people," one protestor shouted.
The protest comes almost four years after the State's main witness in the trial, Junior Grandison, admitted he fabricated evidence against the men. After Grandison gave a sworn statement admitting his false testimony in July 2011, the men's relatives and lawyers petitioned former president George Maxwell Richards.