Freedom for Vybz Kartel: Appeal Court verdict clears dancehall entertainer and co-accused in the case of the 2011 murder of Clive "Lizard" Williams
Vybz Kartel, set to be freed
The Appeal Court of Jamaica has delivered its verdict following the Privy Council's March directive, granting dancehall entertainer Vybz Kartel and his three co-accused freedom from prison in the case of the 2011 murder of Clive "Lizard" Williams.
This decision, coming just a day before Jamaica celebrates Emancipation Day, concludes an almost 13-year journey of arrests, trials, convictions, and a successful appeal.
The decision was handed down by Appeal Court President Justice Marva McDonald-Bishop, the first female President of the Court of Appeal, along with Justice Paulette Williams and Justice David Fraser. Their judgment was unanimous. Prosecutors requests for a retrial were denied, and it was unanimously decided to release the Dancehall star and his co-accused.
Vybz Kartel, whose real name is Adidja Palmer, along with Shawn "Shawn Storm" Campbell, Kahira Jones, and Andre St John, are accused of murdering Clive "Lizard" Williams on August 16, 2011, after Williams failed to return two unlicensed firearms that Palmer had allegedly given him to secure. Williams has been missing since, and his body has never been found. In April 2014, Kartel was sentenced to life in prison, with eligibility for parole after serving 35 years.
Kartel, who previously reported a worsening of his health condition in recent years, will now seek to restore his health outside the prison walls.
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