TWO individuals by the names of Jonas James and Franklin Rambally have been arrested and charged in connection with a kidnapping which was reported to the Criminal Investigation Department of the Gros Islet Police Station on July 15th 2019. These arrests were made on Thursday August 15th. Jonas James was taken to court on August 19th and was bailed in the amount of $10,000 in cash, whereas Franklin Rambally was previously bailed for the sum of $15,000.
It was known to the police that the report of the kidnapping had been relayed by the person who made it, as not being treated as a formal report by the Officer to whom it was made. Ann Joseph, Press Relations Officer of the RSLPF, has refuted this claim. On Monday August 19th, she stated, “It was published that that matter was not taken down formally as a report and that is not correct. The matter was documented as a formal report, an investigator was assigned and an interview was conducted immediately.” She further added, “The Police Officer that he has mentioned is actually the one who documented the report, entered it formally as a report and who is the person who initiated the investigation.”
She affirmed that the abductee, who was also the individual who reported the kidnapping, had participated in two identification procedures subsequent to their recorded statement. Although it was not mentioned in the initial report, a Government Minister has recently been implicated in the kidnapping. In relation to the implication of this Minister, Ann Joseph remarked, “When the individual made the report there was no mention of any adverse behaviour or untoward behaviour on the part of any Minister of Government or any Parliamentary Representative.”
In light of this recent allegation, the RSLPF encourages the victim of the kidnapping to report to the Gros Islet Police Station if he has additional information that he wishes to communicate to the police, so that further investigations can be conducted. Ann Joseph further reiterated, “What we can say now, from his statement provided to the police, is that he never made mention of any Minister of Parliament being involved in any way.”
