Laveist being held
alone in sick bay
~ Might be released early ~
POINTE BLANCHE--Commissioner of Labour, Public Transportation, Youth and Culture Louie Laveist spent Monday night in prison as his pre-trial detention on suspicion of forgery continued for a fifth day.
It is possible that Laveist will be released before Friday, just ahead of the expiration of the extension of his eight-day detention, the Prosecutor’s Office said Monday.
Prosecutors said it was “highly likely” that the Commissioner would be freed. “We will let him out when we are finished interrogating him,” Windward Islands Chief Public Prosecutor Taco Stein told The Daily Herald on Monday. Investigators are questioning the commissioner about the role they suspect he played in forgery schemes, collecting his statements, going through them with Laveist and recording them. When investigators are done, Laveist will be free to go.
Laveist will continue spending his nights at the Pointe Blanche House of Detention alone in the prison’s medical ward until then. Prison director Rudsel Ricardo said the only provision made for him was to isolate him from the rest of the prison population. “[Laveist] is in the sick bay. He is behaving very well,” Ricardo told The Daily Herald. “He is an authority and you cannot put him among the rest [of the inmates].”
Laveist has been in custody since last week Wednesday, two days after detectives searched his home and office and seized documents and other items. His former assistant Roberto Richardson also was arrested last week Wednesday, but was released two days later for playing only a minimal role in the alleged forgery scheme.
Laveist’s lawyer Jairo Bloem applauded the legal system on the night of the commissioner’s arrest and encouraged due process to take its course.
