Blog: The Investigation System should be revamped
The verdict in the Harte murder case will not soon be forgotten. The two accused were cleared and this caused quite a stir both in Mauritius and in Great Britain.
The crucial question that needs to be probed is whether the investigation was conducted in a professional way or whether the police were more goaded in showing that they could efficiently and swiftly solve a murder case that had international ramifications. The Prime Minister, Navin Ramgoolam, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr. Satyajit Boolell, the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Rampersad have all given a clean bill of probity and efficiency to the Mauritius Criminal Investigation Team (MCIT) in the conduct of the investigation and the presentation of the police evidence at the trial. Were they justified in doing so and are they right?
Let us put aside the emotions and stupidity and potted thinking of many here and abroad and of these cheap thinking bloggers who commented on the verdict and look at the situation dispassionately. There has been a tendency in Mauritius recently by lawyers and suspects alike to level allegations of brutality against the police when a confession has been obtained. Now Jayraz Sookur, the suspect in the murder of the Ms. Henrisson has made an allegation of police brutality after the verdict in the Harte case. Is that a coincidence or is it a ploy to consolidate his case if he is tried by a jury?
Both the police and the office of the DPP have never addressed that issue in public. Whether anything was done or attempted to be done in the privacy of the office of the Commissioner of Police or that of the DPP we do not know.
Presumably the prosecution always felt and still feel that such allegations would almost never stand in a court of law presided by a Magistrate or a Judge. There have been very rare cases when a confession has been rejected. So the police and the prosecution have been basking in that comfort zone.
The acquittal of both accused in the Harte murder case must have been a brutal wake up call for the police and the office of the DPP. To start with no serious attempt has been made to counterattack in a robust way the allegations of police brutality. Secondly at no time has a serious attempt been made to investigate these lawyers who are behind or who accompany their clients to register a complaint of police brutality. The DPP and the office of the Attorney General should take the bull by the horn in the complaint of Jayraz Sookur and probe fully the move behind that allegation and who and what provoked it. Maybe it is also high time to start sanctioning these lawyers who are behind such allegations.
What about the techniques of investigation? Are our police trained in such a way that the first strategy is to extract a confession from a suspect irrespective of the surrounding evidence? Are our police trained to properly secure a crime scene in a professional manner so that all forensic evidence is gathered before leaving the crime scene unsecured? Why was not the crime scene in the Harte case subject to searching forensic examination? Why certain items of clothing not examined or secured? Why was the bathtub allowed to be cleaned up? These questions must have been at the forefront of the mind of the jury and notwithstanding the brave attempt of counsel for the prosecution, Mr. Mehdi Manrakhan, to dispel all these flaws from the mind of the jury.
The Presiding Judge in the case, Justice Fekna, directed the jury not to judge the politicians would do. What exactly was meant by that? What was the message he tried to convey to the jury? Did he explain to the jury the yardstick that politicians use to evaluate the police and this yardstick should not be emulated? Whilst a Judge is allowed in a summing up to express his/her own views, he/she at the same time has the sacrosanct duty to warn the jury that these views are his/hers and that they should not accept them unless they agree with these views.
The lesson to be learnt from the Harte case is that the whole system of investigation should be revamped and that our police who pose as great pundits have still a lot to learn. The very reopening of the case and the recalling of police officer Callee to lead the investigation is ample proof of the lamentable failure of the initial investigation and investigators.
The crucial question that needs to be probed is whether the investigation was conducted in a professional way or whether the police were more goaded in showing that they could efficiently and swiftly solve a murder case that had international ramifications. The Prime Minister, Navin Ramgoolam, the Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr. Satyajit Boolell, the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Rampersad have all given a clean bill of probity and efficiency to the Mauritius Criminal Investigation Team (MCIT) in the conduct of the investigation and the presentation of the police evidence at the trial. Were they justified in doing so and are they right?
Let us put aside the emotions and stupidity and potted thinking of many here and abroad and of these cheap thinking bloggers who commented on the verdict and look at the situation dispassionately. There has been a tendency in Mauritius recently by lawyers and suspects alike to level allegations of brutality against the police when a confession has been obtained. Now Jayraz Sookur, the suspect in the murder of the Ms. Henrisson has made an allegation of police brutality after the verdict in the Harte case. Is that a coincidence or is it a ploy to consolidate his case if he is tried by a jury?
Both the police and the office of the DPP have never addressed that issue in public. Whether anything was done or attempted to be done in the privacy of the office of the Commissioner of Police or that of the DPP we do not know.
Presumably the prosecution always felt and still feel that such allegations would almost never stand in a court of law presided by a Magistrate or a Judge. There have been very rare cases when a confession has been rejected. So the police and the prosecution have been basking in that comfort zone.
The acquittal of both accused in the Harte murder case must have been a brutal wake up call for the police and the office of the DPP. To start with no serious attempt has been made to counterattack in a robust way the allegations of police brutality. Secondly at no time has a serious attempt been made to investigate these lawyers who are behind or who accompany their clients to register a complaint of police brutality. The DPP and the office of the Attorney General should take the bull by the horn in the complaint of Jayraz Sookur and probe fully the move behind that allegation and who and what provoked it. Maybe it is also high time to start sanctioning these lawyers who are behind such allegations.
What about the techniques of investigation? Are our police trained in such a way that the first strategy is to extract a confession from a suspect irrespective of the surrounding evidence? Are our police trained to properly secure a crime scene in a professional manner so that all forensic evidence is gathered before leaving the crime scene unsecured? Why was not the crime scene in the Harte case subject to searching forensic examination? Why certain items of clothing not examined or secured? Why was the bathtub allowed to be cleaned up? These questions must have been at the forefront of the mind of the jury and notwithstanding the brave attempt of counsel for the prosecution, Mr. Mehdi Manrakhan, to dispel all these flaws from the mind of the jury.
The Presiding Judge in the case, Justice Fekna, directed the jury not to judge the politicians would do. What exactly was meant by that? What was the message he tried to convey to the jury? Did he explain to the jury the yardstick that politicians use to evaluate the police and this yardstick should not be emulated? Whilst a Judge is allowed in a summing up to express his/her own views, he/she at the same time has the sacrosanct duty to warn the jury that these views are his/hers and that they should not accept them unless they agree with these views.
The lesson to be learnt from the Harte case is that the whole system of investigation should be revamped and that our police who pose as great pundits have still a lot to learn. The very reopening of the case and the recalling of police officer Callee to lead the investigation is ample proof of the lamentable failure of the initial investigation and investigators.
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