Tommy Lee Sparta Released From Police Custody
Popular Dancehall artiste Tommy Lee Sparta is a free man today, August 17, his attorney has confirmed, after spending 41 days in police custody without being charged.
Sparta, whose real name is Leroy Russell, had been in police custody since July 7 after being named a person of interest in investigations into an upsurge in violence in St James parish. A State of Emergency (SOE) instituted in that parish allowed citizens to be detained for up to 90 days without being charged.
After joining police on a raid of Kingston apartments in late July, Sparta had appeared in court on August 10, 13, and 14 for a tribunal to rule on his detention. Jamaica’s Security Minister, Dr. Horace Chang, also announced last week that persons who have been held during the current SOEs could be released today, August 17, but only if there was no incriminating evidence against them.
The entertainer’s attorney, Ernest Smith, confirmed today that a ruling by the tribunal found that there was no justifiable reason for Sparta to have been detained under State of Emergency (SOE) regulations.
“The tribunal, therefore by its unanimous decision, instructed that Mr. Leroy Russell should be released with immediate effect, whether or not the SOE is lifted today,” he told Zip FM.
Smith said the deejay was released from the Freeport Police Station in Montego Bay and was heading back home to Kingston.
“He’s a very happy man, anxious to hit the world of work again. He tells me that his mission will continue to be a mission of peace.”
“The violence that has plagued sections of Montego Bay, in his words, should stop, must stop. I am happy for him,” he continued.
Smith also told Loop News earlier today that it “was patently clear that there was a personal grudge and malice being directed against Mr. Russell.”
“All through the questioning, Mr Russell has never been accused of an offence, he was merely questioned whether he knew so and so, whether he was a gang member, hoping that he would contradict himself,” Smith reasoned.
The states of emergency have been in force in six parishes and several police divisions across the country and were ended ahead of Nomination Day tomorrow August 18 and the September 3 General Elections.
There is no doubt that Sparta’s family will be happy to have him home as earlier in July, after his arrest the mother of his two sons, Donna-Hue Anglin said she was fearful that the ongoing situation would disintegrate the bond shared between him and her sons, ages 17 and 14.
“Their father is their role model, them everything, them love him gone to bed. They are very close to him and are always around him, so it is like they are just taking him away from them all the time,” said Anglin.
Sparta’s lawyer has also indicated that he will be pursuing a lawsuit against the state, which he said could cost Jamaican taxpayers millions.