Former President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, Anthony Carmona, is urging the “powers that be” to deal with the issue of the protection of State institutions, noting that he was also the subject of death threats while he served in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions decades ago.
Speaking to TTT News following the funeral of State Attorney Randall Hector on Thursday, Mr. Carmona said he is “deeply concerned” with the state of gang violence plaguing the country, and that the sanctity of human life is no longer respected.
“A nation state begins to fail when that nation state begins to lose an appreciation for the sanctity of human life, and I think in fact, we are perilously close. It’s not about big cars. It’s not about having an independent judiciary only, it’s not about governance. It’s not about the fact that you have the rule of law. I am talking about the tenets of humanity, when we begin to lose that.”
He noted that even the criminal justice system, which he has been a part of for the majority of his professional life, could do much more.
“The criminal today is well known and is well seen. And I cannot understand how we have been unable to put a handle on things. I have been in the criminal justice system all my life. And I feel for sometimes, in fact, we fall terribly short in terms of what can be done, and what can be invoked.”
But the former President said the State must deal with the matter of protecting all State institutions and Counsel.
“I’m really, really deeply concerned about the officers in the Director of Public Prosecutions Office, I think, in fact, we have all as a DPP as a, as a prosecutor, as a judge, I have also been the subject of death threats. I take it seriously, and the authorities need to really place an emphatic hand on dealing with in fact, the whole issue of protecting our State Counsel, the DPP, the DPP department, the judges, all the judicial officers.”
Mr. Carmona said gang members continue to be a threat to public safety.
“These gang members are terrorists. They are in fact terrorising neighbourhoods, you know, because don’t get me wrong, in these challenging areas, the majority of the people are pretty decent, law abiding. But you have in fact the body of individuals out there who are nothing short of local terrorists. When you kill five men, six men, eight men in America, they are called local terrorists. In Trinidad, they’re called gang leaders.”
Mr. Carmona served at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions from 1983-2000, during which time he attained the posts of Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, and Acting Director of Public Prosecutions.