Vybz Kartel’s Lawyer Slams Correctional Dep’t After Comments About Prison Recordings

Vybz Kartel’s attorney Isat Buchanan has taken issue with recent comments made by Deputy Commissioner of Corrections Joyce Stone about the prison system’s rehabilitation programs.  Stone, who was speaking during an Impact Justice symposium on regional Prison Reform in St Kitts, said that Kartel was not a participant in any rehabilitation program and that any new music recorded by the Dancehall star is being done without permission from the authorities.

“Kartel’s participation in videos or whatever, I must say, it is totally prohibited and has not been approved by the Department of Correctional Services,” Commissioner Stone stated. “Yes, it is true that we do have music studios, as I mentioned in my presentation.  There is a music studio at Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre, and yes, it is a fact that it is a part of the rehabilitation program.”

“As you would note, that Jah Cure – I don’t remember what his name is – he was allowed, he was granted permission as part of his rehabilitation strategy some years ago, to do music, whilst he was incarcerated at Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre.  This is not the case with Kartel, a matter of fact – Adijah Palmer.  Adijah Palmer is an appellant and as I mention, appellants, they are not engaged in rehab activities.  They are considered innocent until convicted.  And so as such he could not be a part of our approved programme.  And he is not at that institution in any case,” she added.

But on Wednesday, Buchanan, who is the son of Dancehall legend Big Youth, lambasted the Department of Corrections, declaring that they should place their effort on remedying the inhumane conditions which are rife in Jamaican prisons.

“Are they making any comments about inhumane conditions that prisoners are being housed in?” Buchanan told DancehallMag, before proceeding to mock the effectiveness of the government’s ‘rehabilitation programs’.

“None of the programs make sense; waste of taxpayers money. The government should spend money on rehabilitation programs and stop calling the nonsense that is offered ‘rehabilitation’. It is a dog kennel and the savages they harvest is a part of the problem with crime in Jamaica,” the lawyer said.

Buchanan pointed out that Jah Cure, who was the poster child for the prison’s “Rehabilitation Through Music” program when he was incarcerated in Jamaica between 1999 and 2007, has now been sentenced to six years in prison in the Netherlands for attempted manslaughter.

“The music program that they speak of certainly didn’t keep Jah Cure out of prison. What rehabilitation?  Until rehabilitation is taken seriously, press conferences should focus on educating the public to assist in effective reintegration of the savages being manufactured in prisons by inhumane incarceration and wasted years,” Buchanan said.

The longstanding controversy relating to Vybz Kartel recording songs in prison dates back to 2016 when he was transferred from the Horizon Adult Remand Centre and relocated to the Tower Street Adult Correctional Facility (General Penitentiary) after claims were made that he was voicing whilst incarcerated.   At the time prison authorities said an investigation into the claims was underway.’

In the first half of 2020, Kartel released 25 standalone singles and two full-length albums: To Tanesha, which he released on January 10 that year, and Of Dons & Divas on June 26.

In March that year, following the release of the first album, officials of the Department of Correctional Services had said actions would be taken against Kartel after what they described as “contraband” was found in his cell.  According to them, they were prompted to raid Kartel’s cell after officials received reports that he was involved in a live stream with music producer Rvssian, on Instagram.

Approximately seven months after that incident, Minister Without Portfolio in the Ministry of National Security, Matthew Samuda, who has responsibility for the correctional services, stated that the proposed ‘tougher laws’ were to be tabled and approved by Parliament within three months as the then Corrections Act, which did not list recording devices or smartphones purported to be used by Kartel, as prohibited items, was archaic.

While not pin-pointing Kartel, Samuda had made it clear that prisoners “found with electronic devices that allow them to communicate externally” would “be treated more harshly in the new act”.

On December 17, last year, The Senate had passed the Corrections (Amendment) Act, 2021 which facilitates tighter control of prohibited articles being transported in and out of correctional facilities.  The new Act, among other things, made it an offense to have access to, use of, or possession of an electronic communication device or computer in a correctional institution or for inmates to transmit without authorisation, any data, using an electronic communication device or computer.

Meanwhile, Vybz Kartel was transferred from the St. Catherine Adult Correctional Centre to the Horizon Remand Centre in Kingston last year, reportedly as part of a plan to house high-value criminals in 24 newly constructed cells, made to curtail access to cellphones.

Kartel, who has been in custody since September 29, 2011, and his co-accused Shawn Storm, Kahira Jones, and Andre St John were all sentenced to life after they were found guilty of the murder of their associate Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams in 2014.  Kartel was ordered to serve 35 years before he is eligible for parole, while Storm, Jones, and St John were ordered to serve 25 years minimum.

In April 2020, the Jamaica Court of Appeal largely upheld their conviction, but found that the original trial judge had made an oversight during sentencing.  The four men’s parole-serving times were reduced by two and a half years each.

Quizzed on an update on Vybz Kartel’s upcoming final appeal before the Privy Council in the UK, Buchanan told DancehallMag: “I have no comment on Kartel…at least she (Joyce Stone) respects that he is innocent.”