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Deputy Compol Explains B-Sag Situation
posted (October 3, 2018)
Deputy Commissioner of Police Chester Williams was up north today - where he appeared on the Despierta Belice morning show on Orange Walk's CTV-3.

He discussed the hot-button issue in the north - which is the murder and attempted murder charges - which he pressed - against 8 lawmen. They were set free by the Magistrate last week ago when police did not have the case file ready. Williams said he feels the decision was premature, and explained the delay in re-arresting:..

DCP Chester Williams
"What happened with that matter is that the case file was sent into the office of the Director of Public Prosecution, as is normally the case in any indictable matter, for their advice. The file was returned to the police the day before the preliminary inquiry and it was returned with directives that the police were to comply with. The time frame between when the file was received and the court date could not have facilitated the police complying with the directives and so the prosecutor had applied to the magistrate for an adjournment, so as to give the police more time to comply with the DPP office's directives. But the magistrate acceded to the submissions of the defense attorneys and dismissed the matter. Now, yes, we are not happy with it being dismissed. I do believe that it was prematurely dismissed; it was only before the court for six months. So, what we are doing now is that contrary to what is being propagated in some quarters that the matter was dismissed for a lack of evidence that is not the case. The matter was dismissed for the fact that there was no disclosure given as directed by the magistrate. So, we are now in the process of complying with the directives of the DPP and once those directives are complied with then we are going to move to re-arrest those individuals again. So, I want to assure the Orange Walk people that the matter is still a live issue and it will be back before the court very shortly. And those officers will have their day in court, at the Supreme Court, where their guilt or innocence will be determined. So, it is not that they are free; they are free for now, yes but they will be re-arrested very shortly."

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