Police Clash With Marchers at Police Headquarters Written by Lesroy W Williams Basseterre, St. Kitts, Friday, 5th July,2013, (MiyVue) – Heavily armed police, clad in riot gear, clashed with marchers after they congregated in front of Police Headquarters to demand the release of former leader of the People’s Action Movement (PAM), Lindsay Grant, who was taken into police custody during a march of opposition party supporters. The arrest is reported to have taken place on Church Street, not too far from Government headquarters. The accounts surrounding his arrest have been conflicting, with some eyewitnesses charging that Grant was pulled over the police barricades by an officer on duty. Other accounts claim that he was arrested after going past the barricades placed by the security focres. Grant and other leaders of his party, as well as members of the People’s Labour Party, PLP, were earlier joined by hundreds of persons who took to the streets today (July 5) to demand that the Motion of No Confidence (MONC) filed by the Opposition over six months ago be tabled by the Government in Parliament. It was the second such march in less than ten days, as anger and frustration build in what many see as the Government’s undermining of democratic principles within the Commonwealth of Nations. Prime Minister Denzil Douglas is in no hurry to hear the MONC and has said that the St. Kitts-Nevis Constitution does not give a date for it to be heard although it is common practice within the Commonwealth that a MONC is heard expeditiously. The marchers, singing “We shall overcome” and “When the saints go marching in”, say that the prime minister is abusing his power and that the MONC should be brought to the Parliament for debate or that the prime minister should dissolve Parliament and call fresh elections. Gathered outside Police Headquarters, the large crowd of marchers were determined not to move and kept shouting “free Mr. Grant.” Squabbles ensued between the Police and the people when the police used force to clear the street. While all of this was taking place, Prime Minister Douglas was in Trinidad attending a CARICOM meeting. Momentum is building and it doesn’t look as though it will end anytime soon with marchers planning to be back on the streets on Monday when Parliament is scheduled to meet.
Posted on: Sat, 06 Jul 2013 11:54:29 +0000
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