Lester Redhead (left), his lawyer Keith Scotland (second left), Christopher Stroude (second right) and Cecil Prime embrace as they depart Richmond Hill prison in St. George's, Grenada, on Wednesday. The three participants in a 1983 coup walked out of prison as free men, ending nearly a quarter century behind bars for their roles in an attack that led to a U.S. invasion of Grenada. The 10 other coup leaders still in prison will serve less than two more years pending a further review under the sentences issued by a judge who said all 13 had demonstrated remorse. - AP photo

Dionne Rose, Staff Reporter

Jamaica's Public Defender Earl Witter, one of the 12 lawyers who represented the 13 persons convicted of the murder of former Grenada Prime Minister Maurice Bishop more than 20 years ago, says he has mixed feelings about the latest decision in the case.

A High Court judge in Grenada on Wednesday ordered the release of three additional members of the 'Grenada 17', while denying freedom to 10 others jointly accused of the 1983 murders of leftist Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and 10 Cabinet colleagues.

A triumph in the rule of law

Reacting to the news Wednesday, Mr. Witter, who was one of the initial lawyers on the team that represented the men in 1986, said tha he was disappointed that all 13 were not released, it represented a "triumph in the rule of law".

"By his ruling today (Wednesday), the learned judge has sternly resisted the quite outlandish approach that recommended itself to the Grenada government and has asserted the independence of the judiciary in dischargingits constitutional function," he said.

Mr. Witter, however, pointed out that he would have preferred if the fixed term of imprisonment imposed by the judge had taken account of the 23 and a half years that they had been imprisoned and the progress that they had made during their time of incarceration.

"If all that had been taken into account, it ought to have resulted in the imposition of the term of imprisonment, which would have itself resulted in their immediate release," he said.

The ruling followed an emotional 17-day hearing at the Grenada Trade Centre, which was watched by scores of onlookers, including family and friends of those killed.

In his 30-minute oral judgement, Justice Francis Belle took into account the men's years of incarceration, as well as years spent on remand.

Walking free

Those walking free are Christopher Stroude, Lester Redhead and Cecil Prime. They now join Andy Mitchell, Vincent Joseph and Cosmos Richardson - who were released last December after spending 20 years of a 30-year manslaughter sentence - and Phyllis Coard, who was let out of jail for health reasons.

The remaining 10 prisoners, including former Deputy Prime Minister Bernard Coard, will continue their jail terms, pending a further review of their sentences.

They each received 40 years' imprisonment with hard labour, but the actual remaining sentence could be minimal considering that the prisoners have already spent over 23 years in jail, in addition to the fact that the judge also ordered that three years be discounted from their sentences.

dionne.rose@gleanerjm.com