Many Grenadians now realize that the 17 were not given a fair trial. But some people say, "Maybe so, but they are guilty, and that’s what matters!" In particular, many people believe that the imprisoned former NJM leaders did order the deaths of Prime Minister Bishop and others.

We who support the release of the 17 want to make it clear that we do so not only because the trial was unfair. We do so for several reasons: among them being the fact that it is clear to us that the evidence upon which the ten NJM leaders were convicted was a lie. There is no evidence that they gave any order for anyone's death. They are innocent of murder.

How do we know this? From the prosecution evidence itself, given at their trial.

Convicted on One Witness’ Evidence

The former NJM leaders were convicted on the evidence of one witness only: Cletus St Paul. The judge at the trial made it clear to the jury that if they did not believe Cletus St Paul’s evidence, they could not convict the NJM leaders. There would be no legal basis for convicting them.

Cletus St Paul was Maurice Bishop’s chief bodyguard. He was arrested on October 12, 1983, for spreading a politically explosive rumour. According to him, he was arrested on the orders of the now imprisoned NJM leaders. He was locked up at Camp Fedon in Calivigny from then until October 19. This in itself makes his evidence suspect, for he loved Bishop, and he also held a grudge against the NJM leaders for his arrest. He therefore had cause for spite.

Justice Haynes said that Cletus had given 5 statements – 3 to the police, one at the Preliminary Inquiry and then his evidence at the trial. The prosecution refused to show Cletus’ three police statements to the 17, but Justice Haynes, who saw them all, said he could not understand how the same person could give 5 such different statements! He said he was going to call Cletus before the Appeal Court, and question him himself. But then, Justice Haynes died suddenly and the new Appeal Court did not call Cletus.

The untruthfulness of Cletus’ evidence is shown clearly by the fact that it is contrary to the evidence of all the other witnesses at the trial, including a Fire Dept Chief and other responsible persons. Look carefully at the following:

All the witnesses except Cletus St. Paul, based on the times they gave and the happenings they described, were agreed that at least 2 hours elapsed between the time the civilian crowd with Prime Minister Bishop overran Fort Rupert and the time the armoured cars arrived there and the tragic shooting started. The crowd led by Maurice Bishop took over Fort Rupert at around 11:00 am, and the armoured cars arrived at around 1:15 pm. Some witnesses said they went up on Fort Rupert after 12 noon. All the witnesses who addressed this matter put the arrival of the armoured cars after 1:00 pm. One witness, a Sandhurst-trained military man, located at the Old Fort overlooking St. George's, said that the armoured cars arrived at Fort Rupert and the shooting started at 1:15 pm. Given that witness' background his estimate of time is likely to be highly accurate. This 1:15 pm estimate also corresponds to the 1:39 pm. time officially recorded by the Fire Chief for the fire alarm caused by the fire at Fort Rupert. That alarm went off immediately following the approximately 15 minutes shoot out which took place when the armoured cars arrived. From all the evidence, the times are clear: the crowd was on Fort Rupert around 11:00 am. Civilians were in control of that Fort for over 2 hours before the armoured cars arrived. The armoured cars arrived at around 1:15 pm.

11:05 AM: Bernard Coard And Others Arrived At Fort Frederick

Now other evidence at the trial showed that Bernard Coard and some other members of the NJM leadership left his home at Mount Wheldale for Fort Frederick about the same time the crowd was entering Fort Rupert. The suggestion from the evidence is that they panicked on seeing the crowd going up to Fort Rupert and bolted. With such haste they would have arrived at Fort Frederick, five minutes drive away, within minutes. Indeed one witness, a worker at the mental hospital, said at the trial, that from there he saw the crowd going up on Fort Rupert and about the same time he saw cars with Bernard Coard and others speed pass in front of him and enter Fort Frederick. Bernard Coard and others therefore clearly arrived at Fort Frederick at approximately 11:05 am.

Now, look closely at Cletus St Paul’s evidence. His story was that he was sitting near the entrance to Fort Frederick when he saw Bernard Coard and other NJM leaders arrive in a state of urgency. That immediately they huddled together briefly, right there at the entrance, though he could not hear what they were saying. That right after this huddle, one of the leaders, in front of the others, made a short statement to the soldiers there, that Bishop and others had taken over Fort Rupert and they must be liquidated. That the NJM leaders then left for the top level of Fort Frederick, but Ewart Layne stayed back and immediately spoke to some army commanders who shortly afterwards left with the armoured cars. And 10 to 15 minutes later, shooting was heard from Fort Rupert. As Cletus tells it, the whole thing happened very quickly: before the crowd caught their breath and settled down on Fort Rupert armoured vehicles were up on them.

So, if Coard and the other NJM leaders arrived at Fort Frederick at around 11:00 am, huddled together for a few minutes, and right away the armoured cars were sent to Fort Rupert, as Cletus St Paul says, then it’s obvious that those armoured cars must have arrived at Fort Rupert no later than 11:30 am, not so?

But wait! Remember that the evidence of all the other witnesses showed that the armoured cars arrived at about 1:15 pm? So what happen? Nearly two hours have gone missing on St. Paul's story!