Adidja Palmer, a.k.a Vybz Kartel, the embattled self-styled World Boss will return to court this Friday to answer to the charges of perverting the course of justice. He has been languishing in jail since October 1, 2011, and he last appeared in court on this charge on January 25, 2013.
Perverting the course of justice is a criminal offence in which someone prevents justice from being served on himself or on another party. It is a common law offence carrying a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Perverting the course of justice can be any of three acts: Fabricating or disposing of evidence, Intimidating or threatening a witness or juror
Intimidating or threatening a judge.Also criminal are:
conspiring with another to pervert the course of justice, and
intending to pervert the course of justice.
Kartel is presently on $500,000 bail for the charge of perverting the course of justice. Kartel was charged along with his Portmore Empire protégé Vanessa “Gaza Slim” Saddler after she made a report to the Constant Spring police purporting that she was held up and robbed on October 29 by a man fitting the description of Williams. This was in a bid to give credence to their insistence that Williams was still alive five days after Kartel was charged with his murder.
Saddler claimed the incident occurred on October 29, five days after Kartel was charged with Williams’ murder. It is alleged that she and others concocted the story to help Kartel with his defence. Saddler was charged by the St Andrew North police on December 8, days after she surrendered to the authorities. Another of Kartel’s Gaza activists known as Andre “Pim Pim” Henry, an engineer, was later arrested for his part in this conspiracy.
Kartel’s only acquittal remains the trumped-up narcotics (ganja) charge. This case was discontinued on Thursday, June 21, 2012 in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court after his lawyer, Christian Tavares-Finson, argued that based on the police statement there was no way the crown could prove that his client was in possession of the ganja.
