Jomo Thomas wants Africans compensated

Attorney Jomo Thomas is of the view that if the two Africans who were jailed for over five years without being charged had been of a different ethnic background they would not have languished at Her Majesty’s Prison.{{more}}

“I am absolutely certain if these two gentlemen were of European extraction there is no way they would have spent this amount of time in jail…I say that with almost scientific certainty,” Thomas told reporters on Monday.

Thomas was speaking about Benjamin Fife Danquah of Ghana and Emmanuel Johnson Chijioke of Liberia. Both men were on September 1, 2010, released from Her Majesty’s Prison after a Habeus Corpus motion filed in the High Court.

Thomas is also encouraging state authorities to be more “humanitarian in the way in which they deal with persons coming to St Vincent.”

Thomas, who worked for 10 years in North America dealing with immigrations matters, stated that the laws in the US are much more defined and articulate than the laws in St Vincent. “This is not to say that people don’t get lost in the system in USA, but I could tell you, if something like this happened in the USA, the person would be sitting pretty from compensation,” Thomas noted.

In an interview with SEARCHLIGHT last week, Thomas said both men were only awaiting deportation and that their human rights have been infringed. He also stated that the men were falsely imprisoned and this country’s constitution and international human rights laws were breached.

Thomas is seeking compensation for the damages on behalf of both clients and said he is expecting positive results with regard to the men’s compensation. “I would have done this case even if the men were from Mars. It was just a matter of defending justice and protecting liberty,” Thomas stated.

In the meantime, the men are being provided accommodation at the expense of the Government. They were placed

in a house for a period not exceeding three months, commencing September 1, 2010.

They must provide information relative to their nationalities and details of their addresses. They will return to court on November 18, 2010, if the process of repatriation is not completed within the time specified.(KW)