We note with approval, work of US justice officials in handing life sentences in the US District Court for the District of Columbia to seven nationals from Trinidad and Tobago. These men were found guilty in the 2005 kidnapping and murder of US war veteran Balram 'Balo' Maharaj. They are now behind bars in US jails and will be spending the rest of their lives there with no possibility of release.
This move by the US District Court is of interest to us who are Canadian citizens and who take several trips a year to Trinidad and Tobago and the rest of the Caribbean on either vacation or business. As visitors we cannot help but stand out in a crowd, and sadly, some of us have been the victims of robberies, violence, and even murders. It was a similar situation for Maharaj, who from Mount Vernon, New York, was at the time vacationing in Trinidad when he was killed.
The country of Trinidad and Tobago continues to see escalating crime, a rising murder count, and an abysmal detection rate by its police. Even today, a number of murders of Canadian citizens are still unsolved. The horrific killing of Geoff and Sherelle Anne Barnes in 2003 and the 2010 chopping death of James Swan are yet to be solved by Trinidad's police. In Guyana, the killers in the tragic shooting death in 2006 of our own Sash Sawh are still free.
It is reassuring then that the family of murder victim Maharaj were in court last week to witness the sentencing of the men accused of killing him. According to media reports out of the US, his relatives wept openly in court. They also expressed satisfaction at the sentencing afterwards.
The pursuit of justice by the US government was unrelenting. The seven men were convicted in July of 2009 of charges of hostage-taking resulting in death, and conspiracy to commit hostage-taking resulting in death. The verdicts last week followed a ten-week jury trial before the Judge John D. Bates. It was a result that met the approval of US Attorney Ronald C Machen Jr and William J Maddalena, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Miami Field Office.
"These seven kidnappers allowed an American citizen to die in a foreign jungle after abducting him at gunpoint while he was on a vacation. For that crime, they will spend the rest of their lives in an American prison," Machen said. Justice was served, he said.
Additionally: "This case demonstrates our steadfast commitment to bringing to justice those who seek to harm American citizens overseas as well as the power of our court system to fulfil that commitment."
Evidence presented at the trial indicated that the convicted men were "fuelled by greed" and so "conspired to kidnap and hold the victim… for an enormous ransom; the initial demand was for the equivalent of $500,000 in US dollars".
Maharaj was kidnapped on April 6, 2005 while at a bar outside the capital city of Port-of-Spain. A ransom of (US) $500,000 was demanded for his safe release. Tragically, in January 2006, his dismembered remains were found in a forested area outside a small town east of the capital city.
The wrapping up of the murder case by law enforcement officers saw both Trinidad and Tobago and American law enforcement officers working together, a partnership that was noted by Maddalena. "This case highlights the importance of cooperative relationships between law enforcement agencies. This teamwork resulted in seven violent criminals behind bars for life," he said. The sentencing was also met with approval in Trinidad and Tobago, with one online blogger stating had the US justice system not functioned the way it did, the jailed men would have been still been loose in Trinidad and free to commit more crimes.
At this time four other men remain in a US jail awaiting sentencing for the same charges in Maharaj's death.