Barbados seems to be grappling with a recent spike in violent crimes, however Prime Minister Mia Mottley condemns vigilante acts of justice, describing them as “unacceptable” in our landscape.
The tourist attracted destination in recent week has recorded thestabbing of a 27-year-old= Shanice Miller in Bridgetown, the death of public service vehicle operator Victor Walton also known as Preacher Man who was hospitalised on December 1 after being shot twice in the head while on the job; the death of Rommel Tyson Jones, whose body was found near the Three Houses River and22-year-old Reco Alkins was killed at Lears, St Michael.
The Prime Minister, during an address to welcome more than 400 new justices of the peace, slammed the notion that people could “take the law into their own hands”.
“I want to disabuse people of that because whether the violence is original violence or vigilante violence, it is unacceptable in our landscape, because let he who is without sin apparently cast the first stone, but above all else, the law does not give you the right to impose your version of justice on other persons,” declared Mottley.
Prime minister Mottley told the new JPs, That is why the police force and the courts exist, for us to have a transparent system that is above all other considerations of partiality. And, that is why the oath that you just took speaks about acting without fear or favour and it is critical that you remember this,”
According to Mottley, the role of the new inductees should go well beyond the formal functions of the state. She appealed to them to to nurture and lead in communities and homes.
“We are a country where persons have told stories of how head teachers, teachers, community nurses, priests, kept communities and villages together,” said Mottley.
“With our society today, where more information is generated from outside than within, it is absolutely critical that each and every one of us plays our role in maintaining order and in building this society.
the PM added that “It therefore means that this cannot be left to the just over 1300 police that we have or the soldiers that we have or the judges that we have or the magistrates that we have. It has to be the responsibility of each and every one of us irrespective of where we sit in our leadership positions.”
