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PRESS RELEASE Today, 14 March 2024, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (Privy Council) unanimously allowed an appeal from Jamaica concerning the murder convictions of four appellants, Shawn Campbell, Adidja Palmer, Kahira Jones, and Andre St John. All, including Adidja Palmer, a well-known dancehall artist in Jamaica (known professionally as ‘Vybz Kartel’), were convicted of a murder that occurred…

Our Co-Executive Director, Parvais Jabbar, was interviewed by BBC Africa’s Focus on Africa podcast speaking on the crucial development in Zimbabwe this week that the Cabinet backs a proposed Private Member’s Bill that will abolish the death penalty. Listen now 02:39 – 14:30.  https://deathpenaltyproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/FocusOnAfrica-20240208-WhyAfricanCountriesAreSayingNoToTheDeathPenalty.mp3

This week, 7 February 2024, Zimbabwe’s Cabinet has backed proposed legislation – a Private Member’s Bill – that will abolish the death penalty in the country. MP Edwin Mushoriwa (Dzivarasekwa Constituency) first brought the motion to bring the Private Member’s Bill to Parliament. The motion was adopted in November 2023 by the National Assembly and in December 2023 the Bill…

The following blog post was published by DPP’s partner organisation the Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty (TAEDP), 20 November 2023. In order to gain a deeper understanding of criminals’ life characteristics, prison conditions, and possible waiting-for-death phenomena, the Taiwan Alliance for the Abolition of the Death Penalty conducted comprehensive interviews with all current death row inmates in Taiwan…

This Human Rights Day, marking the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), we reflect on our findings from multiple public opinion studies on the death penalty. One of the arguments often cited by governments and policy makers for retaining the death penalty is the public support in favour of it. However, is public…

“It’s a joy and a feeling I can’t really explain. Just a happiness” says Wenceslaus James, the longest serving death row prisoner in Trinidad and Tobago on his release from prison in November 2023. TV host of Strictly Legal, Rondell Donawa, held an in-depth interview with Wenceslaus upon his release, sharing his gripping story of a last-minute reprieve from death…

This article was published in Trinidad and Tobago newspaper Sunshine Today,  Friday 1st December 2023. The article explores the case of Wenceslaus James, the longest serving death row prisoner in Trinidad and Tobago, who DPP helped secure the release of in November 2023.

This article was originally published in Trinidad and Tobago News Day, 17 November 2023. DANIEL KHAN, the attorney instrumental in the release of Wenceslaus James, the longest-serving prisoner on death row, said Government needs to decide on the death penalty. He made the statement to Newsday on Thursday while speaking on the five-year battle for James’ release. “This is clearly…

This article was originally published in Loop News Trinidad and Tobago, 16 November 2023. On 14 November 2023, Wenceslaus James, the longest-serving death row inmate in the country, was released by order of the High Court of Trinidad and Tobago. In a release, the Death Penalty Project said Wenceslaus had been convicted for murder in 1996 and received the death sentence –…

This article was originally published in Trinidad and Tobago News Day,  17 November 2023. Pictured: Justice Devan RampersadJustice Devan Rampersad – Having spent 24 years on death row and over three decades in custody, Wenceslaus James – the longest-serving death row inmate in TT – has been released. ­ A statement from the Death Penalty Project – a legal NGO…

Longest serving death row prisoner in T&T released by High Court

Press release On 14 November 2023, Wenceslaus James, the longest serving death row inmate in the country, was released by order of the High Court of Trinidad and Tobago. Convicted for murder in 1996, Wenceslaus received the mandatory death sentence for the offence. The Death Penalty Project (DPP) worked on the case alongside UK barrister Amanda Clift-Matthews and local attorney…