Ras Negus ‘sacramental ganja’ case still unresolved

WESTERN BUREAU:

Charles ‘Ras Negus’ Largie, the high-profile Montego Bay-based Rastafarian who was recently arrested by the St James police after he was found with two pounds of ganja which he claimed was for sacramental purposes, will know whether the case against him will continue or be thrown out when he returns to court on May 11.

Largie’s arrest has earned the wrath of elders in the wider Rastafarian community who say his right to possess ganja as a sacrament was being breached in yet another case of agents of the State going against the law allowing Rastafarians to possess ganja as a sacrament.

According to the allegation against Largie, who is charged with possession of and dealing in ganja, during a search of his shop on December 22 last year, the ganja was found and he was arrested, despite declaring to the arresting officers that he was exercising a right the law has made provision for.

When Largie appeared before presiding parish judge Sasha-Marie Ashley yesterday, his attorney, Chumu Parris, made a no-case submission on his behalf, claiming his right to freedom of religion as the reason he had the ganja at the time of his arrest.

“The Constitution does acknowledge freedom of religion, and one has an obligation to invoke that right. When you look at the legislation, there are no qualifying clauses as to how one is to adhere to the faith,” argued Parris.

“The Crown’s main witness led evidence saying, ‘I observed that the shop was coloured in Rastafarian colours’. What is there for the court to say that what he [Largie] did is not consistent with Rastafarianism?”

However, the prosecution noted that it is the responsibility of Largie to prove that the circumstances under which the ganja was found were in keeping with his religious beliefs, which therefore means he has a case to answer.

Following the two submissions, Ashley set the new May 11 date for the continuation of the case, which attracted a small group of Rastafarians who showed up outside the courthouse to support Largie.

Since the 2015 amendment of the Dangerous Drugs Act, which relaxed the law on the possession of and use of ganja, members of the Rastafarian community have regularly complained that the police have been ignoring the new provision and have been trampling on their rights.