PM Douglas: Regional Witness Protection Programme in discussion phase
By Terresa McCall
Reporter-SKNVibes.com
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| Commissioner of Police Austin Williams |
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – WITH witness protection being one of the major issues faced by crime fighting agencies in St. Kitts and Nevis and the wider region, CARICOM Heads of Government have taken steps towards the establishment of a Regional Witness Protection Programme ]RWPP].
Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis Dr. Denzil Douglas, in an exclusive interview with SKNVibes, explained that a few years ago talks were held with a view to establishing a RWPP but the idea seemed to have been dismissed.
He however declared that during a recent meeting the CARICOM Heads of Government pledged to revive the proposal.
“When the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community met in Trinidad and we had a special session, this was one of the areas that we concentrated on.
A few years ago that came through as an area that we would have pursued as an initiative, and it seem as though it was dropped but we at that meeting in particular took a firm
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Prime Minister Dr. Denzil Douglas
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decision that we are going to reopen this initiative and we are going to see how the islands now can collaborate to develop a proper regional witness protection programme.”
SKNVibes also spoke with the Commissioner of Police, Austin Williams, who noted that such a programme is of utmost important and expressed his confidence in seeing it come to fruition.
He however noted that support from international agencies would be needed for it to be successful.
“It is very important because persons are reluctant to give evidence because of fear of reprisals, but we have done some witness protection here in St. Kitts.
~~Adz:Left~~We have been discussing it regionally and we have discovered from persons who have practiced witness protection that it is very expensive, so we are trying to source international support. It’s being discussed and we know that it is important. We look forward to getting it organised.
“I am very confident that this plan would come to fruition. We know that this is very important and I must even say urgent. I can’t give a deadline but I think we will get support from international agencies, and so am hoping in a short time we would able to start implementing,” the Commissioner said.
