The Economist
JUST before midnight on May 3rd, Dana Seetahal, a prominent lawyer in Trinidad and Tobago, left one of the island’s lively casinos. Five minutes from her home, a car blocked the road ahead. A van pulled alongside; there was a burst of gunfire. The national-security minister Gary Griffith called the killing a “well orchestrated hit.”
In this country of just 1.3m people, there have been 160 murders so far this year. Most are barely reported. Ms Seetahal’s death has caused far more commotion. “When I heard the news, all I could have done was put my pillow over my head and scream,” said one devastated colleague. “I am scared,” said a senior magistrate.
In Trinidad and Tobago, top lawyers are media stars. Ms Seetahal was ahead of the pack. For five years she was an independent senator, hand-picked by the president. She wrote a column for the Trinidad Express. She had been president of the Law Association. She lectured in the university’s law school, and wrote the first and only textbook on Caribbean criminal practice.
Replies
This is a wake up call for all those in the Government and those that have their high profile jobs in the private sector, this is what happens when you make jokes about corruption and do nothing about money laundering.
I think the Pigeons has come home to roost.