Tommy Lee Sparta still remains behind bars and will have to wait until Thursday to find out if he’ll be released.
The Embattled Dancehall artiste, whose given name is Leroy Russell, was asked to report to the Freeport Police Station in St James on July 7 to answer questions about the upsurge in violence in the Flanker community.
Sparta has been detained since then under the current state of public emergency (SOE). This means, he can be held for 90 days without being charged.
Tommy Lee’s attorney, Ernest “Ernie” Smith has since filed an habeas corpus – a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention and request that prisoner be brought to court to determine whether or not the detention is lawful.
Speaking with the Jamaica Observer on Monday, July 27, Smith said his client should be released as authorities have already questioned him five times since his detention.
“I expect the tribunal to be very deliberate in its deliberation because he was questioned, as they [the police] said they wanted him for questioning. He was questioned five times and the deputy superintendent [of Police] said: ‘We have no further interest in him and he should be released’; and that was last Friday,” he said.
The attorney-at-law added that his client is distraught at the way he’s been treated by the police.
