Two grand juries indicted Kristen Meyer and Alex Aleman, on first degree murder for the death of their child Tayla on the grounds of criminal neglect and starvation. Prosecutors insisted that the parents deserve the death penalty for the gravity of this heinous crime of neglect and Irresponsibility.
While the death of this child would have unanimously made us agree that nothing less than the death penalty should have been given the parents, Robert Starkweather of Florida was convicted and jailed letting 13 of his cows starve to death because there is a crime called animal cruelty.
Libya under Muammar Gaddafi had one of the highest standard of living in the world with free education and medical care available to one and all; with gas price at 0.14 us per litre; with newlyweds receiving $ US 50,000 among many other free benefits to all citizens; and you know what, America and its Allies toppled him from power for his “abuse” of the rights of Libyans.
So we come to Trinidad & Tobago where nearly 800 citizens have died from the pandemic while thousands have been infected essentially because the government which is responsible for obtaining the vaccine to prevent the spread of the virus and which is also responsible for the health and safety of its citizens, chose to pursue a reckless policy that was more a reflection of the shenanigans of our carnival mentality; so rather than undertake a sane, sober and statesman-like approach to protecting the lives of our nation, making all efforts to obtain the vaccine from those who manufactured and had it (and like India giving it away freely to those who wanted it,) this PM jumped up on his high horse of ignorance saying he is not begging for it when, we all know in life and death matters like is the pandemic, to beg to save one life, even one’s worst enemy’, is a noble and selfless act.
But when your PM, because of his legendary bully approach, undertakes his non-diplomatic, ghetto-like behaviour to deal with the world, we the people are being taken down the abyss to destruction.
The question is, couldn’t this PM, like the parents of the little girl Tayla, be convicted for neglect and be charged for the murder of the near 800 persons who have so far perished because of his mishandling of this tragedy, because of his arrogance that comes from a big and bad attitude? To the Law Association and the Human Rights Bureau, wasn’t the International Criminal Court established for this exact type of scenario, where leaders, tyrants, dictators, learn that the longest rope has an end and hanging there would be them?
By L. Siddhartha Orie