Push for Justice
by Philippe Aimey (www.nationnews.com)
A JUSTICE COMMITTEE has been set up to clear the name of I’Akobi Tacuma Hembadoon Maloney, who, according to police, jumped off a cliff at The Land Lock, Cove Bay, St. Lucy, on June 17.
The committee set up on June 30, states on its website that it intends to clear the name of Maloney from any involvement with drugs, among a wider mandate that deals with the right of Rastafari people.
There is also a petition on the committee’s website, which can be signed online, or tributes sent in.
Yesterday, in Bridgetown, under the watchful eye of police, family and friends of Maloney marched with placards to raise public awareness.
On Friday, police in a Press statement said there was absolutely no evidence to suggest any foul play in Maloney’s death.
Police crime chief, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Seymour Cumberbatch, also disclosed that investigations suggested that the 23-year-old man was going through a state of depression when he reportedly jumped off the cliff.
Police also stated that they had discovered a note entered in his personal diary which suggested he could have been contemplating suicide.
But secretary of the committee, Ras KudosSage I said that the protest action would be continuing until something was done by the relevant authorities to fully investigate the case.
“Throughout the coming weeks, we will be building this group, not just with members of the Rastafari community, but from institutions that Tacuma was a part of.”
KudosSage I said that Maloney represented something special.
“I would like the public to forget for a few minutes that Tacuma was Rastafari. Look at his character, Rastafari or not, he was an intellectual. It is not fair that he be put in that category of criminals who just have locks. He was different and touched lives from all classes and creeds.”
Yesterday’s protest began from Temple Yard, The City, and went through Bridgetown right up to Queen’s Park.
Sources close to the committee said the family’s lawyers were in the process of drafting letters to send to the Chief Coroner and also The Crown to have Tacuma’s body exhumed for an independent autopsy.
Opposition Member of Parliament Hamilton Lashley, who delivered the eulogy at the young man’s funeral last Thursday, also called on the Commissioner of Police and the Attorney-General to launch a special investigation into the unnatural death.
When contacted yesterday, Commissioner of Police Darwin Dottin declined to comment on yesterday’s protest, stating that a police statement had already been made about the situation, while efforts to reach the Attorney-General were unsuccessful.
Tags: Attorney-General, autopsy, Chief Coroner, Darwin Dottin, diary, exhume, hamilton lashley, Justice Committee, mandate, petition, placards, protest, public awareness, Ras KudosSage I, Seymour Cumberbatch, suicide, The Crown, website
August 15th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
Your blog is interesting!
Keep up the good work!
April 26th, 2009 at 12:02 am
[...] in drug smuggling, and made an urgent call for a full investigation of his death. The blog documented a protest held in Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados, as well as questions raised by members of the Barbados [...]