By RHONDOR DOWLAT Wednesday, August 5 2009

RONALD TIWARIE who was convicted five years ago for the 2001 Blue Basin murder of Polly Ramnarine, has moved a step closer to escaping the hangman’s noose and instead faces being committed to the rest of his life in prison.

Tiwarie was sentenced to hang on August 4, 2004. Under the common-law some argue that the State has until next week Tuesday to hang him because of the Pratt and Morgan ruling which states after a five-year deadline, hanging a person will be deemed “cruel and unusual” punishment. It is said that under the law there must be a lapse of four days after a death warrant is read to a prisoner before he is executed.

As of yesterday, the Mercy Committee had not considered Tiwarie’s case, and in fact, according to a source at the Ministry of National Security, the committee members did not meet.

Lawyers acting on Tiwarie’s behalf last week were unsuccessful in getting the High Court to stay the meeting on the ground that Tiwarie has a petition pending before the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR).