Veteran attorney-at-law Bert Samuels has boldly declared that the controversial regulation used towards dancehall artiste KipRich is constitutional.
The 45-year-old deejay was on Monday charged with the usage of audio and audiovisual communication to advertise felony exercise. The cost arose from a current dubplate.
Beneath Part 18(a) of the Act, it’s unlawful to supply, carry out, promote, or flow into any audiovisual materials that promotes homicide, violence, or organised crime. The cost has triggered fiery backlash, with critics blasting it as a direct assault on free speech. Nonetheless, Samuels, contacted by THE STAR, swiftly shut down these arguments.
“The one one who can take away life is the state, otherwise you’re performing in self-defence. So my view is that any regulation that’s handed that prohibits the promotion of the taking of an individual’s life is constitutional as a result of the structure says we have now a proper to life,” Samuels mentioned.
Whereas making it clear that he was not weighing in on the KipRich case, he emphasised that gangs are felony entities beneath the regulation, and due to this fact, “no person can go to court docket and say I’ve the appropriate to advertise a gang, as a result of a gang, in regulation, is a felony grouping”.
“So on the face of it, the regulation appears constitutional to me, as a result of it goals to guard the residents from being the victims of felony exercise,” reasoned Samuels, who spent many years as a defence legal professional in felony issues.
Samuels defined that whereas freedom of expression is a elementary proper, it’s not absolute and comes with tasks.
“The place an individual is exercising their freedom of expression and freedom of speech, they must be aware of the supply of the structure. It says while you’re exercising your proper, you could achieve this aware of the rights of others, and so what this implies is you can not converse or make a press release which places one other particular person’s proper to life or liberty at risk,” he mentioned.
The St Catherine North police final week included KipRich, whose given identify is Marlon Plunkett, amongst 16 people named as individuals of curiosity. Two days later, the Phone Ting hitmaker instructed THE STAR that he did a dubplate for an ovserseas-based sound system, however “di man dem splice di dub and match it how dem waah fi get dem fawud”.
Samuels warned that entertainers should be notably cautious with their lyrics and social media statements, as they are often simply recognized and held accountable.
“An artiste specifically should realise that as a result of they personal lyrics, that’s, they’ve put out their identify – be it a studio identify or an actual identify – they’re at a better threat as a result of to establish them goes to be very simple. So when John Brown makes a touch upon social media, he is principally unknown, however artistes are simple to seek out,” he mentioned.
“Additionally we have now to understand that your defence cannot be that the lyrics was written by one other particular person … when you converse it you personal it,” Samuels added.
