Vybz Kartel Should Be Freed From Pretrial Detention

They have held several trials and cannot convict after 3 years.
A former British Colony with no justice....what a surprise...
Seriously they have held this man down in jamaica prison for 3 years and the 3rd trial does not stick.
STOP the bias and free the man already if you cannot charge and convict him of any crime..
I am sick of hear say from Jamaica saying we hate the man Vybz or we love Bounty instead.
What does music have to do with delivering justice in a court of law???
The crab in na barrel phenomenon in jamaica is a real shame.

I hope that thug-punk rots in jail. It'll be a good start to show that all of the money and all of the big-money lawyers in the world cannot help you to escape justice. Fools like Buju and Vybz think that their talent and success allows them carte blanche.

Walter that is like calling Stephen King a murderous heathen. Your assumption is that the just are attempting to punish the unjust. Strikkly you assume just the opposite. Don't blame the British for the actions of men/women who reside in Jamaica. Why? Because Marcus Garvey would see it as a big bag of excuses. Walter, if the Jamaica Penal system had taken Winston Rodney into custody would you be saying the same thing? Perhaps if Bunny Wailer were on trial for Murder but there was no body ever located? Ziggy Marley etc. I highly doubt they think their talent and success makes them untouchable. It is more likely because they have "seen it all" and don't imagine themselves to be part of the "same ole story". My point, no one here knows what has happened other than the Po Po have held Vybz, Shawn Storm and one other man whose name eludes my for 3 years. 3 Years without a conviction to me is crooked. If they determine them to be innocent have they not already served 3 years? for what exactly? I don't trust any of the people named, I can only good by what we read in the press and that STINKS to hi Zion.

Walter with the crackre commentary LOL......

No "fair and speedy trial" rights in most Caribbean countries. Like we've seen with Kartel & Ninjaman, people can be imprisoned for years based on an accusation while trials are continually delayed.

i don't know this singer's music( i autotuned out this segment of reggae)
or actions
but this professor thought his book was worth
kids reading

[www.jamaicaobserver.com]

Screw da bombaclot let him sit in jail

Where is the body? This seems pretty strange. If there is a dead person where is the body? If there is no body how can you be sure this person isn't just hiding out of fear for their life? It is obvious this person was attempting to appear afraid. TO ME... if you can be convicted of a crime that there is no evidence that said crime actually took place seems...shady at best.

I must of missed something, I thought I read the body was found and mostly burned?...Maybe I'm wrong. Hope this sh-t gets over soon, and I hope they get it right.

Quote
Ninja
Where is the body?.....TO ME... if you can be convicted of a crime that there is no evidence that said crime actually took place seems...shady at best.

They were talking about having phone and video evidence. I assume the texts are the phone evidence and the video evidence will be coming shortly. You do not need a body for a murder conviction.

This is from 2011 but:

"It was not specified which of the accused men were on the video but the Court was told that it showed Clive 'Lizard' Williams being mobbed and beaten to death."

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/-Murder-on-video-_10090164

Anyone hear anything recently about the video? I remember hearing that they recovered it from Vybz's hard drive.

Positive Vibrations w/DJ Treez | Tahoe's Reggae Show | Thursday Nights 10pm | 101.5 FM KTKE | truckeetahoeradio.com

yeah - he is hiding. kinda like jimmy hoffa, whose body has also never been found.
Requiring a body sure would make killers lifes easier - just toss the body in the ocean or burn it up
and VOILA - no murder occured...

I guess my point was when you do find a body it tells you how the person was killed. I have very little doubt that dude is dead. Who killed him is the mystery. How do I know the police didn't show up, take him, do him in and pin it on Kartel because they don't like him? What happened to the other piece of evidence that would have verified the texts? The burden of proof seems to be on one guy to prove he didn't do the killing.

3 Years without a conviction is ridiculous. As for the Jamaican judicial system........it seems in this case, they throw a bunch of @#$%& on the wall til some finally sticks. Crazy. Guilty or Not, how many shots does the jamaican judicial system get? thats a shitload of "do overs" if you ask me. All BS aside, dancehall has definately felt the impact of Vybez being out of the studio. Good or bad, he was drawing the spotlight world wide to the Dancehall scene in a major way.

[www.jamaicaobserver.com]

[urbanislandz.com]

Wow. The case gets more pathetic time passes apparently

Wouldn't the defense be the ones delaying the case anyhow? I heard they were questioning the jury or something.

Positive Vibrations w/DJ Treez | Tahoe's Reggae Show | Thursday Nights 10pm | 101.5 FM KTKE | truckeetahoeradio.com

Not looking good for Kartel. If they can definitively trace the phone to Kartel, he should be rotting in prison for a long, long time.

Said phone was used by these so called officers of law to make personal calls after it was seized for evidence. Jamaica has third world government and police with ambitions and abilities for global entertainment reach. That is the problem.

Proof of guilt or freedom....

Quote
strikkly
Proof of guilt or freedom....

Quote
DJ Treez
Wouldn't the defense be the ones delaying the case anyhow? I heard they were questioning the jury or something.

Positive Vibrations w/DJ Treez | Tahoe's Reggae Show | Thursday Nights 10pm | 101.5 FM KTKE | truckeetahoeradio.com

They supposedly have video of the victim being beaten, with a man's tattoos visible on it. If they match, that's all she wrote.

They tattoo doesnt match. It says BO$$ acros the knuckles. Kartels says Gaza Thug.....just sayin

free werl bawse

Oh!

[jamaica-gleaner.com]



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/2014 01:24AM by Ras_Adam.

Guilty. He's spending the rest of life behind bars.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/18/2014 02:44AM by Ras_Adam.

Quote
strikkly
Proof of guilt or freedom....

Yeah jury was 10 - 1. However that makes guilt?!? Sentencing in 2 weeks.

10-1 after less than 2 hours. Judge then told the jury to take more time and reconsider. When they came back for the last time, it was unanimous.

Many Jamaicans are hoping this is a sign the judicial system will finally get serious on convicting anyone who breaks the law there, but that would definitely be a wait-and-see type of thing.

And hopefully this example (along with the Buju situation) will teach the younger artists not to believe their own bullshit and stick to music if they're going to be musicians.

please... this will do nothing but harden the youths opinion of the shitty state of "law enforcement" in Jamaica. I have no idea if he was involved with killing dude or not, all I know is that should I be on trial for the same thing I want' nothing to do with the so called standard of proof in Jamaica.

[www.bashmentvibes.com]

NONE of you/us would want to be subject to the Jamaican "justice system". No one here thinks it is above being corrupt. I have no idea is Kartel was involved with murder but neither does anyone here. taking pleasure or making jokes about a young black man being sent to prison for the rest of his life seems weak at best. Who is happy? Not the relatives of the dead guy, their relative is dead. The youth of Jamaica? Do you think that putting Kartel in prison will lessen his influence? This isn't about whether you like his music or think he is a bag o sheet. It is about people who freak out when it is their rights or their friends rights being trampled on deciding that because Kartel makes music they don't like it is ok for the system to screw him. I mean, after all he must have done something... right?

I don't want to be involved in any country's 'justice system'. Therefore, I live my life to minimize that possibility as much as I can.

Look, most of the people in jail are guilty, a few are innocent. That's the facts, Jack.

I think Kartel is guilty and a jury of his so-called peers said so, so off to jail he goes. Another self-deluded person who thought his fame and money would exempt him from paying the price for illegal conduct. No one is above the law.

It is only a cooincidence that I can't stand to listen to his music.

And I do get your point -- I mean, after all the system must be persecuting him... right?

no no... you miss my point. I have no idea if the system is persecuting him or not. I think that pointing to a guilty conviction and saying "see I told you" is a mistake. I have just never heard of anyone saying "good riddance" to someone they do not know. It would seem as if sadness at another young life lost to foolishness would be more appropriate.

As to "most people in jail are guilty" I have no idea if this is the case of not. Neither do you my good man. This belief allows you and I to go about our day and continue to work and live without an immense feeling of guilt and social injustice. This is also what the owners of most private penal institutions are counting on. I mean who cares is a bunch of people in jail are subject to beatings, rape and sub par food, after all they did must have done something bad or they wouldn't be there.

The reality is that most crime is based on economics and exists for the protection or person and property. Who benefits from laws that have this as their foundation? I woulds day those with the most private property aka the wealthy. This is why it is hard for the poor to "make it out". Most of the laws are set up to prevent access to the property of others. You must "obey" the rules set up by the wealthy class. Rules which those who "have" have no reason to break and those who have not have every reason to do so.

You do not know Adijah Palmer? So to suggest that he is a "self diluted person" and then go on to suggest that you know what he was thinking and that he is in fact guilty of this crime is in fact "self diluted". Just saying...

i think the term you are looking for is 'self delusional'. I don't buy the argument that you don't know if those in prison committed a crime or not, thats a cop out. Most of those in prison did indeed commit a crime, just ask them. Most will admit it, after they are in the slammer. Sure, some are innocent, but to say that 'you don't know' and i 'don't know' is just a cop out. Lets see, the trouble concerned two guns owned by Mr Palmer that had gone missing. Any confusion as to who's guns they were? i thought not. Why did Mr Palmer own these guns? Collectors items? Thought not. A murder was committed in who's house? Mr Palmer's. Do you really think that this confrontation would have occurred there without Mr Palmer knowing about it? The victim seemed to think something bad was about to happen, and he was on his way to see Mr. Palmer. See, i don't really care if Mr. Palmer had Joe Blow beat the victim to death, or he did it himself, it's the same. Mr Palmer looks pretty responsible from the evidence that i read. Let's not split hairs. He ran with a criminal crowd, and decided to get rid of one of them. Read his texts, gonna cut that guy up in small pieces.

You don't want to call him guilty after he is convicted, would you have him babysit your kids? C'mon man.

Love that reggae!

"The reality is that most crime is based on economics and exists for the protection or person and property. Who benefits from laws that have this as their foundation? I woulds day those with the most private property aka the wealthy. This is why it is hard for the poor to "make it out". Most of the laws are set up to prevent access to the property of others. You must "obey" the rules set up by the wealthy class. Rules which those who "have" have no reason to break and those who have not have every reason to do so. "

And what's up with this paragraph? Everyone has personal property, and laws exist to protect everyone. Yes, some have more wealth than others, but to say that the poor have every reason to break laws and take what isn't theirs is ridiculous. Put your nose to the grindstone, save your money, get an education so that you can get the job you want, put your nose back to the grindstone, keep saving your money, and twenty years later you might have something.

Love that reggae!

This video from Deva Bratt is fairly revealing over the character of Vybz Kartel. It sounds like it was just a matter of time before things caught up with him, and probably not a coincidence he was caught up in not one but two murder trials:

The rise and fall of dancehall

Lloyd B SMITH

Wednesday, March 19, 2014


‘Unnu mus’ let them go’

FROM the heady days of Wear you to the ball to the raucous Rampin' Shop, the home-grown musical genre of Jamaican dancehall has risen to respectable prominence and fallen to the depths of decadence. No amount of philosophising and sanitising by academia and apologetic stances by wannabes desperately trying to identify with a popular cultural practice can deny the fact that this musical form is in serious trouble.

The guilty verdict handed down to dancehall artiste extraordinaire Adidja Palmer, better known as Vybz Kartel, along with his alleged cronies Andre St John, Kahira Jones, and Shawn "Shawn Storm" Campbell, with respect to the August 2011 murder of Clive "Lizard" Williams, has elicited a variety of responses as to the good, the bad and the ugly of the "haul and pull up kulcha". Kartel was no ordinary citizen. Indeed, one well-known talk show host opined in the aftermath of the celebrated trial that not even a member of parliament could have attracted so much interest.

Well, the die is cast and it remains now to see what will be the severity of the sentence when Justice Lennox Campbell delivers his decision next Thursday, March 27, 2014. Of course, there is no doubt that Kartel will have instructed his lawyers to appeal the verdict, but no matter what transpires from now on the jury has spoken and justice has been served. In any event, a close scrutiny of some of Kartel's lyrics provide for the discerning eye what may be referred to as the mens rea, described in law as "the intention or knowledge of wrongdoing that constitutes part of a crime". In the final analysis, it is not for me to pass judgement, but clearly this could well be a case of "cock mouth kill cock".

And, in this context, what is most frightening for me is the revelation that attempts were made to bribe the jurors. This act to pervert the course of justice is the ultimate corruption of our justice system and brings into sharp focus the reliability of the jury system in a country whose unofficial national hero is Brer Anancy. I shall be following this case very closely, because an example must be set if the juror in question is found to be guilty. What is even more important, though, is for the police to do their work and trace this dastardly act to its origin, because such a practice does not augur well for transparency and accountability in the courtroom.

In the meantime, it is safe to say that dancehall will be haunted by this unfortunate comeuppance for a long time to come. Very few dancehall artistes have been as prolific as the "Worl' Boss". He has shown himself to be a shrewd businessman, an author, a lyrical master churning out hits like an automated machine, but most significantly an icon who gained a tremendous following of young men and women, both here and abroad — as far away as Africa — who believed in his way of life, his pronouncements and his actions. The show of support last Thursday in downtown Kingston and at his base in Portmore is ample evidence that he is the idol of many Jamaicans who see him as someone to emulate.

It can be said without fear of contradiction that many of our young males sought to ape Kartel's behaviour. Bleaching, saggy pants and tattooing are but some of the things that defined the dancehall giant's persona. Against this background, there are many Jamaicans who feel that because of this perceived deleterious influence on young minds in the country, what occurred on March 13 was not just "bad luck" or "obeah", but poetic justice. After all, to the average Jamaican, dancehall has become synonymous

with indiscipline, sexual promiscuity, violence, gangsterism, anti-establishment behaviour, and moral decay.

When one considers that the average age of the jurors was 40, it may well be argued that it was not only Vybz Kartel that was on trial, but dancehall. Many well-thinking Jamaicans have become fed up with dancehall as they feel that it has corrupted our youngsters to the point where certain artistes are referred to as "god". I recall visiting recently an inner-city community popularly known as a ghetto, and during a conversation with some "yute man" I asked them if they follow the news in order to have a better appreciation of what was happening in their country, some of which may have a direct impact on them. And the glib reply was, "No, boss, ah Beenie Man and Bounty Killa we get fi wi news from!" This telling response confirms the great, overwhelming influence that our dancehall artistes have on the young minds in this country. It is therefore incumbent on them that they use that influence for good rather than evil. But are they in all instances?

I well recall when Rampin' Shop was in its heyday; even the little children coming from school could be heard delivering the lewd lyrics with much aplomb. No longer is it a case of "Gentle Jesus, meek and mild..", it is more a case of "Come inna mi rampin' shop..." Juxtapose dancehall with reggae and it becomes clearer and clearer that the former belongs underground, while the latter should be promoted and extolled. Bob Marley's immortal lyrics are evidence that good will always triumph over evil, because decades from now millions of people all over the world will be singing One Love as against how many will be chanting any of the dancehall songs that have a relatively short shelf life.

The current fall of Jamaican dancehall should be a wake-up call to its many practitioners that it cannot be business as usual. They need to "wheel and come again!" Yes, there are artistes who have tried to clean up their acts, but they do not get the "forwards", "lighters", airplay, and performance gigs that those who promote slackness and violence get. So it is also incumbent on the followers and patrons to clean up their acts, not to mention the disc jockeys and radio stations who feverishly and unscrupulously go after ratings and popularity at the expense of destroying a nation in the process.

After this Kartel debacle, dancehall must rise again, with or without him. However, even from his jail cell, he can begin to be part of a new day for that musical genre. From now on, his lyrics must embrace forgiveness, redemption, positive vibes, love and unity. He can make a difference, and if he does he will play a pivotal role in bringing back the love in dancehall.

Lloyd B Smith is a member of parliament and deputy speaker of the House of Representatives. The views expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of the People's National Party or the Government of Jamaica. Comments: lloydbsmith@hotmail.com

More legal woes for Kartel

6:01 pm, Tue March 18, 2014
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Vybz Kartel

There are more legal troubles for dancehall entertainer Vybz Kartel as he awaits sentencing.

The entertainer is now scheduled to stand trial on charges of conspiracy and attempting to pervert the course of justice.The August 11 trial date was set on Friday.

Kartel is charged jointly with entertainers, Vanessa Saddler otherwise called "Gaza Slim" and Andre Henry otherwise called "Pim Pim".
The three were charged in 2012, following an investigation into an alleged scheme to deceive the police in their investigation of the murder of Clive "Lizard" Williams.

The cops reported that on October 29, 2011, Gaza Slim visited the Constant Spring Police Station and reported that she had just been held up at gunpoint by Williams.The police say her statement was false and they seized text messages from Kartel instructing her to lie to the police.
Henry had accompanied her to the police station to file the report.

Deva got it right during the interview...
Then said Jesus, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."

...the conviction of Kartel was definitely for more than murder....but for his persona too
from the Lloyd Smith article The Rise and Fall of Dancehall there is this telling quote......
"there are many Jamaicans who feel that because of this perceived deleterious influence on young minds in the country, what occurred on March 13 was not just "bad luck" or "obeah", but poetic justice. After all, to the average Jamaican, dancehall has become synonymous with indiscipline, sexual promiscuity, violence, gangsterism, anti-establishment behaviour, and moral decay.
When one considers that the average age of the jurors was 40, it may well be argued that it was not only Vybz Kartel that was on trial, but dancehall. Many well-thinking Jamaicans have become fed up with dancehall as they feel that it has corrupted our youngsters to the point where certain artistes are referred to as "god"".

thanks for the posts Ras Adam

i dont know him or his music but i know people on the board do.
a

And the justification continues.....SMH. Seems the only way to righteously sin is to be a musician these days. I can sell drugs, commit murder, promote slackness and violent lifestyles. Then when im held accountable for my actions, people will start yelling about my persecution. Lol gotta love it....