The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

FORMER Tall Pines MP Leslie Miller on Friday praised National Security Minister Marvin Dames for having the "guts" to announce the Minnis administration's plans to push for the enforcement of the death penalty, as he called on the government to "do it, and do it now."

Mr Miller, a longtime supporter of capital punishment, said he is totally behind Mr Dames' previous announcement, further congratulating Mr Dames and the Minnis administration for "having the tenacity and the wherewithal to do what is necessary on behalf of the Bahamian people".

The firebrand Progressive Liberal Party politician further encouraged the Minnis administration not to be "concerned" with the backlash its stance on capital punishment could have on the country, particularly that of the international community, as he asserted: "They don't face the carnage that we face."

"We face it therefore we got to deal with it," Mr Miller told The Tribune on Friday just hours after a man was found shot to death in Mason's Addition. "It's our problem. If it's a Bahamian problem it got to be a Bahamian solution. The solution is, you take a life yours gone, unless in special circumstances. But this is just gutless murdering and these people got to stop, man. And I'm with him 1,000 per cent.

"He could depend on my support. In and out, he could depend on me."

Last week, Mr Dames said the Minnis administration will use everything on the law books, including capital punishment, to make The Bahamas safe for "law-abiding citizens." At the time, Mr Dames said the Minnis administration cannot tolerate a "lawless society" and said it is the government's job to "introduce new policies and to enforce old ones to make sure everyone is safe."

"I am totally and 100 per cent with him," Mr Miller said when questioned on the matter. "I want to congratulate him on having the guts to appreciate the fact that these fellas would take a life in an instant with no sorrow, no conscience, no nothing, because they know that when they take a life, they gone go to Fox Hill prison, might, and 70 per cent of them walk free.

"Therefore, they take the law into their own hands and do as they please. If this guy knows that his life is going to be taken, he ain't gone do it. You know nobody wants to die. But they don't mind taking your life and my life. I'm happy and I congratulate the minister for having the tenacity and the wherewithal to do what is necessary on behalf of the Bahamian people.

"It is long, long overdue," Mr Miller added. "And I trust that they will push this and get it done. It's on the books, you just got to have the guts to enforce it. It has to be done."

Reflecting on the recent spate of homicides in New Providence, Mr Miller asked: "Where we headed? This is a precipice and we headed down there at a thousand miles an hour."

In January, while his party was in power, Mr Miller blamed "gutless politicians" for the increases in murders and serious crimes in the country. At the time, Mr Miller said many of his parliamentary colleagues were "afraid to implement the laws on the books".

He urged Bahamians to vote for persons who will "carry out the death penalty" and "send everyone else packing".

The following month, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, then in opposition, said unless the then-government is willing to enforce the death penalty, "criminals will continue to ravage our country and keep citizens in fear." Dr Minnis said the country is losing the battle to the criminal element and "more serious measures" need to be taken.

And last year, Dr Minnis insisted that the necks of "murderous scumbags" in the country must be "popped" as he castigated the former Christie administration for failing "miserably" in its obligation to keep Bahamians safe.

Reflecting on this statement, Mr Miller said he is "happy to see the minister of national security has the guts to at least say the right thing".

"And the prime minister said he was with it," Mr Miller added, referring to his and Dr Minnis' previous calls for the death penalty to be enforced. "When I was in Parliament (Dr Minnis) and I were the two lone wolves in there saying we're with it. Now he has an opportunity to make it come to fruition and I trust that it happens. They got the numbers to do it, so the ball is in their court now. Let's just do the right thing.

"Do the right thing man. Do it, and do it now, and we'll see a total de-escalation of crimes and killings in our country."

A 2006 decision by the London-based Privy Council, the Bahamas' highest court of appeal, quashed the country's mandatory death penalty for murder convicts, which it said was unconstitutional.

In 2011, the Privy Council also said the death penalty should only be given in cases where the offence falls into the category of the "worst of the worst."

That same year, the Ingraham administration made changes to the Penal Code to set out the criteria for the types of murders that would attract a discretionary death penalty after conviction.

The law changes made it so a person convicted of killing a member of the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF), Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF), Department of Customs, Department of Immigration, the judiciary or correctional services would be eligible for the death penalty.

Someone convicted of killing someone during a robbery, rape, kidnapping or terrorist act would also fall into this category.

No one has been hanged since the amendments were passed into law.