Chuck rejects JTA boss’ cat o’nine call as medieval

Western Bureau:

The justice minister has slammed the newly installed Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) president’s call for convicted paedophiles and drivers who cause death by reckless driving to be flogged with the cat o’ nine as part of their punishment.

In an interview with The Gleaner following his installation at the recent annual JTA conference in Montego Bay, St James, Owen Speid said that convicted paedophiles should be routinely flogged with the once-feared cat o’ nine.

“Paedophiles should not only be sent to prison, but they should receive lashes of the cat o’ nine when going in and should also be taken out of their cells periodically and lashed,” Speid told The Gleaner.

He added that reckless motorists, who cause death by dangerous driving, should also be whipped.

“I would also recommend that those drivers on the road who use their vehicles as missiles and destroy people’s lives be subjected to lashes of the cat o’ nine also,” said Speid, who has since defended his position in several interviews.

Archaic thinking

However, Delroy Chuck, the justice minister, has said that this is archaic thinking and that the cat o’ nine has no place in a civilised society.

“Flogging represents a medieval response to lawbreakers,” Chuck told The Gleaner as he weighed in on the matter. “It is sad to see that a leader of a respectable organisation is calling for the return of flogging.”

Chuck said that his position, which is in sync with that of the Government, is that there is no place for any such punishment in the nation’s justice system.

“Flogging of any kind by the State is not sanctioned and is considered abhorrent, so violence of all kind should be avoided,” said Chuck.

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