On 24 March, the Compass obtained access to hundreds of pages of documents in a long and complex trial that has taken place largely out of the public eye.
It’s a case that raises important questions about how justice is administered in Cayman and exposes hitherto hidden holes in the veneer of safety enjoyed in our Islands.
The issues at heart are greater than, though inseparable from, the two men at the core of the story.
The case centres on the exile of two convicted killers transferred to serve out their sentences in the UK, under legislation written before anyone alive today was born.
The brothers, Osbourne Douglas and Justin Ramoon, are described in the court documents obtained by the Compass as too great a threat to be held in Cayman.
The hearings rumble on, setting a new legal precedent for cases like this, that pit national security concerns against the right to a fair trial. Their challenge before the courts has already had a direct impact on how much scrutiny our leaders’ decision-making will be subject to going forwards.
The Prison Papers
As far as we are aware, this is also the first time a court in Cayman has granted a media house this kind of access to trial documents.
Douglas and Ramoon, found guilty of the execution-style shooting of Jason Powery outside the Globe Bar in George Town in 2015, embody, in many ways, the perfect contradiction for the multivalence of issues we highlight in the Prison Papers.
A concerned reader might look at the records of the two men and think Cayman is better off without them – regardless of how the transfer was conducted. It is also true that no court could ever restore the rights that were taken from the man they killed and his family.
It is not the Compass’ aim to advocate on their behalf; it is not for us to determine how right the decision was to send them to the UK.
But the Prison Papers expose issues at play that are bigger than the individual circumstances of these two men: Issues of open justice, the right to a fair hearing, the capacity of Cayman’s prisons, the treatment of prisoners and the power balance between the UK and local authorities.
There are also worrying claims from law enforcement of a level of organised crime, previously not detailed in our islands.
For that reason, we are grateful to the court for releasing these documents and hope our series adds to public understanding of the case and the escalating issues surrounding crime and punishment in the Cayman Islands.
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