"Grenada 17" pushing for their freedom

Former Grenadian Leader Mr. Maurice Bishop 
and President Fidel Castro in an undated picture.
(Rose-hulman.edu photo)

Wednesday, October 22, 2003

ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada: Former army private. Cosmos Richardson and 16 others who became widely known as the 'Grenada 17" for their role in the killings of former Grenada leader, Mr. Maurice Bishop and 10 others, want their freedom back. The 17, who were convicted for killing Mr. Bishop in a 1983 coup that led to a U.S. invasion, are still in jail some two decades after the assassination. 

But according to the Associated Press, Mr. Richardson, now 46, is mounting a new effort for his freedom. Defense lawyers are preparing appeals to the Privy Council in London, the highest court for many former British colonies. They face a major legal hurdle because Grenada has a law that bars such appeals on convictions before 1991. But defense lawyer, Mr. Keith Scotland, is challenging that law in the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal, arguing it was passed simply to prevent his clients from appealing. 

"Politics is what keeps me here," he told AP recently from the Grenada prison where he is serving a 45-year sentence. 

Last year, a court ruled Mr. Richardson and two other ex-soldiers should be freed because each received more than one consecutive 15-year sentence for manslaughter - an action it said amounted to multiple sentences for the same crime. Nine months later, a higher court overturned the decision. 

Government officials declined to comment and have shown no willingness to release the convicts from their hilltop prison, said AP. But Mr. Richardson said he sill hasn't given up. "I have hopes for the future," he said, stressing, "I am not a criminal. I was a foot soldier. If a foot soldier gets an order, he has to carry it out. And the law is supposed to protect him." 

Twenty years later, some details of the coup remain unclear, including the number of Grenadians killed and the whereabouts of Mr. Bishop's body. The U.S. government puts the death toll at 45 Grenadians, 24 Cubans and 19 Americans. 

The government established a truth commission in 2000 to reveal details about the events. The findings are expected later this year.  

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