Hanging would continue under a PAM administration
By Ryan Haas
Reporter-SKNVibes.com
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts-POLICTICAL Leader of the People’s Action Movement (PAM) Lindsay Grant said yesterday (Jan. 14) at a press conference that hanging would continue under a PAM Administration, despite the recent barrage of negative press regarding the Federation’s use of the death penalty.
“As I have indicated before, I am not adverse to hanging. If hanging is on the books and it is the law of the land, we carry out the law of the land. If the majority of persons in St. Kitts-Nevis believe we ought not to hang, then we can move toward changing that, but I am saying that once it is on the books we must carry out the law of the land,” he informed gathered media.
Since the hanging of Charles Elroy Laplace on December 19, the first in the Federation for over ten years, debate on the issue of hanging and the death penalty has been rampant throughout St. Kitts-Nevis, the Caribbean region and the international arena.
SKNVibes asked Grant whether or not his party viewed hanging as an effective deterrent to crime, but he said he could not give a definitive answer to the question.
“Hanging is not the only deterrent, and I cannot even say if it is a deterrent because we would have to investigate to really see if murderers, so to speak, have that in their psyche.” ~~Adz:Right~~
The Political Leader posited that through a combination of hanging, his party’s programme of appealing to the nation’s youth and providing support to security forces, PAM would likely be able to cut the nation’s murder rate in half within a one-year time frame.
While Grant said that he was not pleased with the condemnation of the Federation from international onlookers such as Amnesty International and the UK’s The Daily Mail, he said that the general message of those criticisms must be considered.
One such article run in The Daily Mail on the same day that British Airways inaugural flight to St. Kitts touched down at the Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport referred to St. Kitts-Nevis as “the murder capital of the world”.
Grant said he was very worried about the article.
“In terms of the article in the British press, as I said before let’s not beat up on the messenger. Let’s look at the message. We have to ensure that our streets are safer and crime is curbed.”
He added that it was important to put an end to crime through whatever methods necessary because if the problem persists it could pose a very real threat to the Federation’s vital tourism industry.
“It is sad that the article has come at a time in the British press that we are trying to woo the British tourists here. It can do enormous damage to St. Kitts and Nevis.
“We have to ensure that tourism flourishes under whatever administration because at the end of the day all of us will suffer,” Grant stated.
