The burlesque show currently taking place in our courts would have been rather funny had it not been so tragic. As Bruneau Laurette is being shuttled to and from court, the performance we are being offered has all the elements of a dark comedy, except humour.

First, the armoured vehicle he was ferried in, in a country that has never seen a shred of mob violence, is rather disproportionate. As is the number of armed commandos in full combat gear assigned to taking Laurette to court. Watching the show, you’d think the person who will emerge out of the vehicle is El Chapo or Escobar or someone of similar notoriety. Until we see Bruneau Laurette handcuffed, being obediently arraigned into court and almost immediately taken back into custody!

Now what goes on in court adds more elements to reinforce the burlesque side of the show. The cops, who had given an undertaking  in court to produce the footage of the arrest of Bruneau Laurette and his son, which they said they had and would be adduced as irrefutable evidence that the drugs had not been planted in the suspect’s car boot, came to court with nothing to show for it. Yes, we did undertake in court that we would produce the ‘evidence’ that the drugs seized did actually belong to Laurette and we do have the footage to prove it. However, we haven’t brought it so you have to take our word for it. In fact, the cop who was present in court last week and took this commitment is away enjoying a few days overseas. As it happens, the police officer who ‘replaced’ the one overseas fell short of saying that he knew nothing about the footage and that his colleague may actually have hidden it somewhere or taken it with him or something similar. At any rate, the footage was not produced to the magistrate and that’s that. Nor was any plausible explanation given.

Now what about the drugs seized during another operation and which, according to Laurette’s lawyers, showed strange similarities with the packages supposedly found in Laurette’s car? The police were supposed to check these and confirm that they were still intact and put an end to the rife rumour that the police are using exhibits to trap political opponents. Well, the officer stated he had not seen those exhibits and that he knew which of his colleagues had but he would not reveal their names! And, by the way, the Forensic Science Laboratory has not confirmed yet the nature of the substance allegedly found in Laurette’s car!

But don’t worry, all these misunderstandings will be cleared up once Laurette’s interrogation starts. Right now, the police are dealing with another issue: some Facebook posts that the suspect had put up some time ago and which the police are objecting to now. So once that is done, the case of drug trafficking, on the basis of which Laurette was put behind bars, will be opened and then the evidence will be given in court. Seriously?

In the meantime, Laurette and his son are kept in police custody, in the filthy and inhumane conditions that we know, deprived of their freedom and dignity as well as of their constitutional right to the presumption of innocence?!

I am not saying that Bruneau Laurette is innocent or guilty. That is for our competent courts to decide and they will decide in due course. What appals me is the fact that while the courts are deciding, two guys who might be innocent have been detained and, if the police carry on dragging their feet and managing their travels properly, they may indeed stay in police custody until the next elections as Laurette’s lawyer said, without the police having produced anything other than rumours to support their claims! Note that there is not even a motion for bail up for debate in the case of Bruneau Laurette!

I don’t think this is the kind of justice we want for our worst enemies, let alone for ourselves and our country!