Caribbean Report 27-01-1999

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1. Two convicted murderers in Trinidad and Tobago were given a stay of execution. Death row prisoners Darren Thomas and Haniff Hilaire appealed to the Privy Council to commute their sentences to life imprisonment on arguments based on poor prison conditions and delays in their trials. Emma Joseph reports on the importance of the ruling on Caribbean jurisprudence. Attorney General Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj questions the decision based on the precedence set by the Pratt and Morgan case. Graham Huntley spokesmen for Thomas and Hilaire comments on the importance of the men continuing to pursue their case within international human rights organisations. Tony Fraser reports from Trinidad on opposing views on the death penalty (00-27 - 08:21)
2. British Home Secretary Jack Straw signed a protocol to formally abolish the death penalty in the United Kingdom. Amnesty International researcher Piers Bannister calls for the Caribbean to follow Great Britain lead and a growing global trend and abolish the death penalty (08:22- 11:17)
3. A dispute between the executive and legislative branches of the Dominican Republic to control the Dominican Municipal League moves to the nation’s courts. Jean Michel Caroit reports on how this political infighting to control the Municipal league has led to protest demonstrations and shootings in the capital city of Santo Domingo (11:18: 13:06)
4. The sanctity of marriage is being discussed in Great Britain and the Bahamas. Kimberly Andrew Thomas reports on a couple who married 26 seconds after meeting. The couple entered a radio competition, won and were rewarded with a wedding ceremony, a house and car and a honeymoon trip to the Bahamas. Church leaders have condemned the media marriage as a sacrilegious publicity stunt and an insult to the sanctity of marriage. Views are solicited from Bahamians on the streets (13:07 – 15:24)

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