The men alleged to have been behind the robbery of a brinks armored truck in 2004 are now free. The 5 young men described as partners in crime were released due to efforts by attorney – Marcus foster. 

Last week, attorney foster presented a no case submission before the courts, questioning the authenticity and strength of the evidence against his clients.

Foster, assisted by colleague Jano Walters, also questioned the statements which his clients were alleged to have made to police at the time of their arrest. 

Today a high court judge upheld Foster’s “no case submission” and ordered the release of Anthony Calendar, Winsbert alexander, Leonard Daniel, Randolph John and Yan Barthelmy. While foster did not represent Barthelmy in the case his submission covered all the accused and Bathelemy was also freed.

Reports also indicate that claims that the men had turned state witness are false.  The men had other criminal matters being heard against them during that time.

Chairman of the National Crime Commission Linwall James says he is concerned about the country’s growing homicide rate. James says in June 2005 the island registered one homicide in comparison to two so far this month.

He says this increase is especially alarming because prior to this month, there had been a reduction in the number of recorded homicides for this year as compared to last.

James has called on Saint Lucians to have more respect for each other and human life. He is appealing to the public to cooperate with the police in solving these murders most of which have occurred in broad daylight.

The NCC Chairman says he expects a reduction in the crime rate by year end. James says the launch of the first Community Committee in mid-July coupled with continued appeals to the general public will make this possible.

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) began meeting in Saint Kitts Friday but already pro-whalers have registered a major victory. They won a majority vote on a resolution calling for the eventual reinstating of commercial whaling.

IWC members voted in favour of a resolution establishing a simple majority vote. The pro-whalers are headed by Japan which has the support of 8 regional governments including Saint Lucia.

The island’s three member delegation is headed by Agriculture Minster, Ignatius Jean. He says the vote supports the normalization of the IWC, something pro-whalers have long advocated, because it means a reliance on scientific evidence as opposed to pure emotion.

The anti-whalers who are also members of the IWC have not taken this latest vote lying down.
They have vowed to appeal the decision and to use any means necessary to achieve their aim of maintaining it.

Last week, we spoke to Dr. Joth Singh – a spokesman for the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
He had hinted of the bitter resolve fuel the people and organizations committed to anti-whaling.

The resolution was tabled by St. Kitts which declared “The moratorium, which was clearly intended as a temporary measure, is no longer necessary.” It was approved by a vote of 33 to 32 with one abstention coming from China.

The meeting continues until tomorrow, June 20th.

A group of students representing five Secondary schools on the island have begun training in peer counseling.  The programme is organized by the St. Lucia Seventh-Day Academy.

The exercise is a bit different though – the school is teaching the young people to counsel their peers.

The students are piloting the project – it is the first time such a programme is taking place.

Shanter Alexander is the counselor at the SDA Academy.  She says part of the curriculum is character education. 

Alexander says statistic show that youth are able to reach their peers better than anyone else, so such training is very useful.  She says the programme did not stem from any major disciplinary problem at her school.
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This is the first time such a programme has been attempted on the island.  It is hoped that similar programmes will follow this initial peer counseling seminar.

An agreement has been signed for the commencement of work on a new hotel. The agreement was signed between the government of St. Lucia and the Malgretoute Development Company earlier today. The hotel will be constructed at the Malgretoute site in Soufriere. The signing means that elderly folks housed in the area will be re-located to facilitate the hotel Deveopment. The government will transfer the Malgetoute site to the developers for an amount of over eight-and-a-half million dollars.