Dear Editor,
Citizens of Region 9 are hereby requesting a judicial inquiry into the sentencing guidelines used by the Lethem Magistrate when presiding over court cases in the Region.
Over the years people have been appalled by the draconian sentences handed down to mostly Indigenous people for offences that carry lesser penalties in other jurisdictions.
Just last week a Lethem youth was sentenced to three years in prison for possession of 16 grams of cannabis which carries a street value of $8,000 while at the same time at the Weldaad Magistrate’s court a man was ordered to pay a fine of $40,000 for possession of 156 grams of the same drug and at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court a man was given community service for possession of $31,500 of cannabis.
There are many Indigenous people languishing in prison for offences that carry non-custodial penalties elsewhere in the country which is violating our human rights. It is also placing additional burden on poor families reeling from the Covid crisis who have to find huge sums of money to appeal these cases.
We are also calling on the relevant authority to make legal representation available for persons who cannot afford same who are mostly Indigenous so justice can be served and our human rights respected.
Yours faithfully,
Patrick Fitzpatrick
