News 28 June 2020
  views

Vybz Kartel explains his appeal to the UK’s Privy Council in new interview

28 June 2020
  views
Share
Share

After nearly nine years behind bars, Vybz Kartel has given his first mainstream media interview to Billboard Magazine.

Fresh off the release of his new album Of Dons and Divas, Kartel revealed to Billboard that he will once again challenge his life imprisonment sentence – this time at the United Kingdom’s Privy Council.

The Privy Council are a formal body of advisers who can act as the final court of appeal for some countries across the Commonwealth which includes Jamaica.

The Privy Council will determine if Vybz Kartel was allowed a fair trial – something he argues he was not.

Vybz Kartel and his legal team’s allegations of injustice include changed witness statements, hacked phones, the bribery of jurors and leaked private voice recordings.

Kartel said, “I would like to say re the Privy Council that I am going to be out soon. Law and statute are what the council deals in, not corruption. The appeal hearing in Jamaica, just like the trial, was a joke, a kangaroo court, a circus.”

The artist added, “Being in prison for the last nine years definitely took a toll on my family, my parents and especially my kids, early on.”

The case will be heard via video link next week (29th June). This new court case follows Kartel’s recent small legal win at Jamaica’s Court of Appeal where the dancehall star had his sentence reduced.

In the interview, the artist also talked about his children, his relationship with his common-law wife and his reign over dancehall.

Kartel told the reporter, “It’s a secret like the Colonel’s recipe. The true secret to success is commitment, hard work, smart work, self-analysis and most important, humility. Once I face a riddim, I’m not Worl Boss, just a man with a pen, paper and a track. Other artists are working hard, so I think it’s just the formula.”

On the allegation that he is recording music behind bars, Kartel said, “Many people say ‘Yes! Vybz is recording in prison!!’ But where’s the proof? But this is Jamaica where you don’t need proof to imprison someone.”

“For the record, I’m not authorized to answer such ‘above pay grade’ questions so I’ll say, ‘a tree fell in the forest and no one was there to hear it.”