Should Logan Family Sue GOB for Lengthy Remand?  

Glenford Logan finally walked out of prison on Monday after spending an unbelievable twenty-one years in pretrial detention for the murder of security guard Kingsford Obeng. Despite being charged with the fatal attack, Logan never faced trial and was held at the Belize Central Prison. During his time behind bars, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia by a psychiatrist. Earlier this week, Justice Nigel Pilgrim ruled that Logan’s constitutional rights had been violated, making him the longest inmate on remand in Belize’s history. Now back with his mother and family, Logan’s case has ignited conversations about justice and the need for legal reform. News Five caught up with seasoned attorney Richard “Dickie” Bradley to get his take on this troubling situation.

 

On the phone: Richard “Dickie” Bradley, Attorney-at-law

“Every time di Supreme Court di close all persons who are awaiting trial must be brought to the courts so that a judge reviews their situation.  A person comes up, the judge already has the list from the prison, they know how long he’s in there, they know what is the situation and the judge would say, “but you were granted bail in the sum of ten thousand dollars, why are you still in prison?”  And the person would explain that they can’t get two persons to sign or nobody wants to sign or whatever it is.  Every person is entitled by law to have their temporary imprisonment reviewed.  The first starting point, which means that there has been a terrible failure of the system that a human being can be in prison for so long without a trial.  We are a big failure if one human being is kept in prison.  It’s a big failure on the prison authorities, a big failure on the police and the prosecution, on the lawyers and on the courts.  A huge, scandalous failure.  The family of that person needs to sue for depriving him of all his constitutionally guaranteed rights.  He’s not a potlicker, he’s not a dog that you can push off the streets and ih noh mean nothing.  Da wahn human being who is in prison.”