Dexta out

Dancehall artiste Dexta Daps, who spent more than three weeks in police custody, was released yesterday without charge.

The entertainer, whose given name is Louis Anthony Grandison, was held at the Hunts Bay police under the state of emergency that is in effect in the St Andrew South Police Division.

But his attorney, Peter Champagnie, QC, told The Gleaner that he was concerned about the other SOE detainees who have no legal representation.

“It’s really shameful ... . The process has not been explained to some of them,” the QC said.

Detainees can be held up to 90 days under the SOE.

The hit-making singer, our news team understands, was scheduled to go before a tribunal court on Friday, but he was released a day earlier.

Dexta Daps was arrested in Seaview Gardens on April 8 by detectives from the St Andrew South Police Division and the Major Investigations Division.

The police reported then that his detention was in relation to “an investigation that has been going on for some time”.

Daps, through his attorney, however, maintained his innocence.

Under the Emergency Powers Act, a person detained for seven days may be detained for a further seven days on the instruction of a deputy superintendent of police or a higher-ranking officer.

However, this period may be extended until the end of the state of emergency if the national security minister grants a detention order.