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More incursions, hangings needed — says pastor
BY TANESHA MUNDLE Observer staff reporter mundlet@jamaicaobserver.com
Monday, August 08, 2011
REV Merrick 'Al' Miller yesterday urged the Government to resume capital punishment as a means of stemming wanton acts of murder, and at the same time, called for islandwide incursions into criminal dens, but minus any bloodshed.
"Those who say that capital punishment is not a deterrent, are clearly not giving careful thought. I don't have to go to anything, but the scriptures is abundantly clear that man who shed the blood of man by man should his blood be shed," said the controversial clergyman.
Head of the Fellowship Tabernacle, Rev Al Miller (at right) leads a group of his church brethren in a walkthrough in the community of Lauriston in Spanish Town, St Catherine yesterday. (Photo: Collin Green)
Miller, who heads the Fellowship Tabernacle in Kingston, made his call during a walk-through of the community of Lauriston, St Catherine, where three persons were recently beheaded, including a 42-year-old woman, Charmaine Rattray, and her 19-year-old daughter Joyette Lynch.
Those murders came days after their 18-year-old neighbour Scott Thomas was also beheaded.
The beheadings were not limited to St Catherine, as just a few days later Gary Emmanuel Smith, 37, suffered a similar fate in his St Andrew community of August Town.
The last time the state carried out a hanging was in 1988. Up to March of this year over a dozen convicts were on Death Row.
In calling for the police to mount incursions into troubled communities, Miller pointed out that crime was suppressed when a similar operation was carried out in May last year in search of strongman Christopher 'Dudus' Coke.
"The same approach that was taken with Tivoli Gardens needs to be taken in every area across the country, but certainly not with the same results. It must be with principle, with a commitment to justice, with respect for citizens so that you can get the cooperation of the citizens but this needs to happen across the country and it needs to happen now," said Miller.
Some 73 people, including members of the military and the police force, lost their lives in the operation. Coke has since been extradited to the United States where he is to go on trial on September 12 on drugs and gun-running allegations.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz1UQGSHYG8
BY TANESHA MUNDLE Observer staff reporter mundlet@jamaicaobserver.com
Monday, August 08, 2011
REV Merrick 'Al' Miller yesterday urged the Government to resume capital punishment as a means of stemming wanton acts of murder, and at the same time, called for islandwide incursions into criminal dens, but minus any bloodshed.
"Those who say that capital punishment is not a deterrent, are clearly not giving careful thought. I don't have to go to anything, but the scriptures is abundantly clear that man who shed the blood of man by man should his blood be shed," said the controversial clergyman.
Head of the Fellowship Tabernacle, Rev Al Miller (at right) leads a group of his church brethren in a walkthrough in the community of Lauriston in Spanish Town, St Catherine yesterday. (Photo: Collin Green)
Miller, who heads the Fellowship Tabernacle in Kingston, made his call during a walk-through of the community of Lauriston, St Catherine, where three persons were recently beheaded, including a 42-year-old woman, Charmaine Rattray, and her 19-year-old daughter Joyette Lynch.
Those murders came days after their 18-year-old neighbour Scott Thomas was also beheaded.
The beheadings were not limited to St Catherine, as just a few days later Gary Emmanuel Smith, 37, suffered a similar fate in his St Andrew community of August Town.
The last time the state carried out a hanging was in 1988. Up to March of this year over a dozen convicts were on Death Row.
In calling for the police to mount incursions into troubled communities, Miller pointed out that crime was suppressed when a similar operation was carried out in May last year in search of strongman Christopher 'Dudus' Coke.
"The same approach that was taken with Tivoli Gardens needs to be taken in every area across the country, but certainly not with the same results. It must be with principle, with a commitment to justice, with respect for citizens so that you can get the cooperation of the citizens but this needs to happen across the country and it needs to happen now," said Miller.
Some 73 people, including members of the military and the police force, lost their lives in the operation. Coke has since been extradited to the United States where he is to go on trial on September 12 on drugs and gun-running allegations.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz1UQGSHYG8
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