DPP leaving it to God to address discord
Published:Monday | July 31, 2023 | 12:09 AMOlivia Brown/Gleaner Writer
Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Paula Llewellyn says a dysfunctional moral compass is crippling Jamaica’s justice system.
Llewellyn, who was at the centre of widespread debate last week, also posited that those who operate within the judiciary have a crucial role to play in restoring the public’s faith and trust in the country’s justice system. She implored her fellow judicial workers to apply “service above self”.
Llewellyn was speaking at The Rotary Club of May Pen’s 34th officer installation ceremony at Hotel Versalles in Clarendon on Saturday.
The DPP, who was the guest speaker at the ceremony, charged Jamaicans to form what she described as a law-abiding alliance, geared at disrupting the ills of society as the country grapples with the scourge of crime. That, she said, represents hope for Jamaica.
“An alliance of the law-abiding comprises all you good men and women of Jamaica who honour and respect the fact that if you have a moral compass that is not dysfunctional, and if you’re prepared not to tolerate criminality, and if you’re prepared to stand up and be counted in seeking to persuade members of your community and family to move away from persons with a criminal intent, then you will be a worthy member of the alliance,” she concluded.
Citing the fight against crime as everyone’s business, Llewellyn said:”It doesn’t matter what your station of life is [or] what your educational level is. It is a just a question of being a good person, and someone who is prepared to uphold law and order. You don’t have to be a police officer, a prosecutor, or a politician. You just have to be somebody who has a value system and who believes it is better to do good things than to do bad things.”
In the meantime, seemingly alluding to a series of recent events stemming from the Government’s decision to increase the retirement age of the holders of the office of DPP and auditor general from 60 to 65 years, Llewellyn said she would not allow herself to be “caught” commenting on the ongoing controversy, which received new energy through a letter written to Prime Minister Andrew Holness. In that letter, Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Kathy-Ann Pyke declared that she “and other officers have grave concerns about the viability and growth of the office under the leadership of Ms Paula Llewellyn as Director of Public Prosecutions”.
Pyke said further that “some have even expressed a lack of confidence in [Llewellyn’s] leadership”.
‘Agents of discord’
The deputy DPP’s comments were met on Friday with sharp rebuke from Llewellyn, who at the time accused her of being “bitter” and suggested that Pyke would be facing investigation over “unprofessional” behaviour.
But on Saturday, Llewellyn said: “For the members of the media, I got your telepathic message, but I’m not going to be caught ..., but suffice to say, where agents of discord abound, if you mean to create positive hope, then I think of my mother’s and certainly my favourite Psalm, Psalm 121: ‘I will lift my eyes up to the hills from whenst cometh my help’.”
She continued, “When there’s discord that you have been a part of, that you have not created, but for some reason static is created around you, you allow the Lord to fight your battles.”
Llewellyn went on to say that it was important that public servants be agents of change and reassert hope where there is discord.
“You know, Corporal James, you flashed across my mind a while ago when I said that, but all I’m going to do is give you a smile and speak to you telepathically, and we’re talking about the creation of hope. Peace will reign,” she said to recently interdicted chairman of the Jamaica Police Federation Corporal Rohan James, who was among the attendees.
James was interdicted following strong statements he made against the Police High Command during the recent funeral of a policeman.
“If Jah is standing by my side, then why should Paula Vanessa Llewellyn be afraid?” she said, evoking a plethora of cheers from the audience in apparent affirmation.
“I’m not going to go any further because my parents taught me ‘broughtupsy,’ and I was taught whether privately, or publicly, to respect everybody ... .even those who disrespect me,” said Llewellyn.