REHANI ISIDORE: ARE COPS SILENT IN THEIR OWN INTERESTS?

The European Convention on Human Rights (Article 2) creates a positive duty: “When the state takes away the liberty of an individual and places him or her in custody it assumes responsibility for protecting that person’s human rights, the most fundamental of which is the right to life.”  Tell that to the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force. On March 5 it issued a statement confirming that “on February 28, 2019 one individual was taken into police custody” in relation to a bomb threat to George Charles Airport at Vigie.

“On the same evening,” the statement continued, “the suspect was transported to Victoria Hospital having ingested a substance.” Finally, “the suspect is in a critical condition at a medical facility and has not been charged.” The police statement was confusing, to say the least. By the time of its release there was hardly anyone in Saint Lucia who did not already know the “suspect” referred to was HTS news reporter Rehani Isidore. And while the police neglected to mention what he “ingested” that had landed him at Victoria Hospital in critical condition, social media was telling the whole world the reporter had swallowed a powerful cleaning liquid while in police custody.

There have been no official updates on Isidore’s condition, no word as to his location. On the one hand the police had stated the patient was at Victoria Hospital, then that he was “in critical condition at a medical facility.” Did that mean Isidore was initially taken to the named hospital then removed to another facility?

This reporter sought clarification from the police but all ACP Wayne Charlery offered was “no comment”. This despite swirling rumours at home and abroad about why the reporter had to be hospitalized shortly after police took him from his work place for questioning in relation to the airport bomb square. The police are also silent on the matter of Kimberly
De Leon, fatally shot in her home last year.

There have been no arrests. Initially her husband was declared “a person of interest” in the case but shortly after the announcement the cops reversed their position. They told reporters that Kimberley’s husband had applied for, and been granted, leave. There was further confusion after the ACP with responsibility told reporters that samples from the De Leon crime scene had been sent to a St. Kitts crime lab for analysis. Later he said a police officer had been assigned to pick up the result. Still later he said local authorities were studying the analysis conducted in St. Kitts.

As if further to muddy the already messy situation, Kimberly’s mother told
reporters that the police were giving her “the runaround”. She said she was told the St. Kitts crime lab had “mailed” the results of their analysis to the Saint Lucia police. Since then, there has been no further word from them.  There has also been no new word on the brutal murder of Bob Hathaway, whose naked and bloody body was discovered in his bed several weeks ago.

The British press featured a whole lot more information on the murder than was available to local reporters.In several instances the foreign journalists claimed they received their sensitive information from police sources in Saint Lucia!  To return to Rehani Isidore, there is much speculation as to who may be in more trouble, the bomb scare suspect or the cops who permitted him to swallow a bellyful of toilet cleaner while in their custody.