FREE CECIL PRIME NOW!

HE IS INNOCENT – WRONGLY CONVICTED FOR THE MURDER OF MAURICE BISHOP AND OTHERS.

HE DID NOT DO IT. HE WAS NO PART OF IT.

Prime was not a member of the Central Committee.

He was not part of the unit sent to retake the Fort.

He did not kill anyone; even the prosecution concedes that.

He was a prisoner in the Operations Room.

He was held under gunpoint by armed civilians who had seized control of the Fort.

When the shooting started he was still in the Operations Room; to save his life, along with several civilians and soldiers, he jumped out of a window during a lull in the firing. He could have been killed.

Immediately after the firing ceased he left for Fort Frederick about two kilometers away.

When the final burst of firing was heard from the Fort, Prime was still on his way to Fort Frederick. Everyone agrees that it was this final burst of fire that killed Bishop and others.

Prime remained on Fort Frederick for only a short while. On departing there he proceeded first to the hospital to check on the condition of wounded soldiers including fellow officer and personal friend, Commander Conrad Mayers. Mayers was seriously wounded in the initial shoot out between the soldiers and the armed civilians at the Fort. In fact Mayers died from those wounds.

On leaving the hospital Prime then proceeded to Fort Rupert. There, for the first time, he learnt that Bishop and others had been killed. Prime therefore had nothing to do with killing anyone. In fact he himself could have been killed. And it is nothing short of a scandal that he should have been framed and locked away for sixteen years for something he was no part of.

Significantly in early 1984 the occupation forces decided to free Prime. He was even informed the conditions of his freedom, namely that he must report to the headquarters of the occupation forces every morning, as was the case with several other political detainees at the time. But for some reason there was a change of heart.

When charges were first laid against the Grenada 17, in February and March 1984, Prime was not one of those charged. Eighteen persons were charged originally. Prime and one other person was added later.

Prime was only charged after he refused to cooperate with the invaders. The foreign police who mounted the case wanted Prime to say that he heard Ewart Layne passing instructions to kill Bishop and others. They brought tremendous pressure on Prime to do that. He was even taken to the gallows at Richmond Hill prisons. He was given a demonstration of how it operated and told, "that’s how you will swing if you don't testify."

Cecil Prime refused to bow to that pressure for he knew of no such order and was not prepared to dishonour himself by betraying a friend, comrade and fellow officer to save his skin.

At the end of the preliminary inquiry a no case submission was made on behalf of Prime. The then chief magistrate made it clear that he found it difficult to find any evidence to keep Prime in prison. However there was one thing which he said inclined him to send the matter to the judge and jury. That was a piece of prejudicial evidence fabricated by the prosecution.

Recognizing that there was no evidence to convict Prime, but determined to punish him, those who mounted the case found a Parmassar witness to frame him. To save his own skin that witness was prepared to say anything.

That witness placed Prime on the scene of the killings and even so he did not say that Prime shot anyone or even had a weapon in his hand.

Only because of the controversial nature of the trial Prime was convicted. Many knowledgeable observers feel that he was convicted because he supported his fellow defendants in refusing to recognize the court. Indeed the only defendant who was not convicted was the other person who was charged together with Prime as an afterthought. Significantly, that was the only defendant who did not participate in the protest against the court. One may disagree with Prime with regard to his attitude towards the court; it may have been misguided. But that is no reason for convicting an innocent man for murder and sentencing him to hang – and for keeping him in jail for 16years!

At the start of the appeal, the President of the Court of Appeal J.O.F Haynes made it clear, that after reading the entire court transcript, he could not see how Prime was convicted. He wanted to free Prime before hearing a word of argument. However he was persuaded by the prosecution to await arguments. He agreed. But he died. A new appeal court was appointed. And the rest is history. Sad history for Cecil Prime. Once again his chance and hope of being freed deserted him.

Prime is one unlucky guy. A terrible victim of circumstances. He is innocent. He should never have been charged. Justice demands that he be freed immediately.

One day in jail is too much for an innocent man; sixteen years is a naked crime.

FREE CECIL PRIME
RIGHT NOW!

Published December 1999 By Committee Of Relatives And Friends To Free Cecil Prime

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