We want true justice for I’Akobi!
by PEP (www.nationnews.com)
THE PEOPLE’S EMPOWERMENT PARTY (PEP) is calling upon Commissioner of Police Darwin Dottin and Attorney-General Freundel Stuart to carry out an independent investigation into the “mysterious” death of 23-year-old I’Akobi Tacuma Maloney, by bringing in police investigators from a jurisdiction outside of Barbados to take charge of the probe.
I’Akobi Tacuma Maloney, a young man of impeccable reputation, died on June 17 at Landlocks, near Cove Bay, St Lucy, while in the presence and custody of several officers of the Royal Barbados Police Force. Spokespersons of the force have since alleged that police officers had interviewed Mr Maloney, before he suddenly and inexplicably ran and jumped off a cliff to his death.
Where a death has occurred in such circumstances, the normal procedure in Barbados is that the coroner would hold an inquest to determine whether any person or persons are criminally liable for the death.
The major problem with this procedure however, is that the coroner depends upon the officers of the Royal Barbados Police Force to investigate the unnatural death and to present the evidence at the inquest! In circumstances in which the police could possibly be implicated in the unnatural death, this leads to the farcical situation of having the force investigate itself.
A serious conflict of interest can arise where Barbadian police officers are asked to investigate fellow officers with whom they rub shoulders on a daily basis - persons who they may well count among their friends and colleagues.
Clearly, no one can have confidence in such a procedure.
The PEP has, in the past, called for a new procedure to be applied to situations in which people die at the hands or in the custody of the police. We have recommended that those police officers should be automatically suspended from active duty, and that a neutral team of police investigators be brought in from an appropriate jurisdiction outside of Barbados to take control of the investigation.
Surely, it is not beyond the capacities of the governments of CARICOM to collaborate in this manner, in order to ensure that the best and most professional, neutral police investigators are available to carry out these types of investigations outside of their home territories.
If justice is not only to be done, but also to be seen to be done, it is imperative that this type of neutral and impartial procedure be adopted.
Indeed, there has already been a disturbing development that has cast a shadow over the current investigation. We refer to the fact that the Maloney family’s legitimate request to have a doctor of their choice present at I’Akobi’s autopsy was denied. How can the Maloney family be expected to have any confidence whatsoever that justice will be done?
The PEP is calling on all right-thinking Barbadian citizens to give their support to our call for outside investigators. Let us ensure that I’Akobi’s tragic death results in a permanent institutional improvement in the system of justice in Barbados.
But most of all, let us ensure that true justice is done to this outstanding young Barbadian - a 23-year-old chemical engineer who distinguished himself by winning a Barbados Exhibition at Foundation School, excelling in his studies at the University of the West Indies (UWI), and by demonstrating such outstanding leadership qualities that he was elected president of the Barbados Association of Students at the St Augustine Campus of the UWI.
Tags: CARICOM, conflict of interest, Darwin Dottin, Freundel Stuart, independent investigation, investigators, PEP, social justice, suspension, UWI