A Kingstown magistrate has adjourned to May 4, a case involving three Trinidadian nationals who have been charged with illegally entering St Vincent and the Grenadines and are now being held in quarantine in a police station.
Senior Magistrate Rickie Burnett was told on Wednesday that Benjamin Lewis, Nareem Julien, and Kenwyn Lambert entered the island on April 19, at Canouan, by boat without a passport and that they entered the country other than a port of entry.
The three men, who were not in court when the matter was called, are being quarantined at the Biabou Police Station, despite the court being told that is not the case.
Their attorney, Grant Connell, said he had confirmed that they were still being held there, hours after the Senior Magistrate sitting at the Kingstown Magistrate’s Court said that it is his understanding that the men were not being quarantined at the police station.
Burnett had been responding to a comment by Connell, who had said that while he is not a medical expert, he wanted to suggest “in the most humble of opinion” to the authorities, that three Trinidadians being in quarantine at a police station is not the best.
Burnett said that that based on a letter from the Medical Officer of Health, Dr Roger Duncan, the Ministry of Health was concerned about the men’s health status in light of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Duncan sent a letter to the court indicating that the men had been quarantined for 14 days.
Senior Prosecutor, Adolphus Delplesche said that taking this into consideration, he was not sure how the immigration charges could proceed. Connell told the court that he had not seen the letter and the Senior Magistrate offered the lawyer his copy.
After reading the letter, Connell told the court that the Trinidadians came here on a boat that they could have used to go back to their home country. He said that on the day they arrived, the men were taken to the Biabou Police Station and he went there after he was retained to represent them.
“They can’t be in quarantine at a police station,” the lawyer said.
The Senior Magistrate said that the matter was before the court for a plea to be entered and that the accused men are not before him.
He said he would, therefore, adjourn the matter until the quarantine period ends, and set May 4 as the next date for a report. (CMC)
