Kris Maharaj, the brother of former Attorney General, Ramesh Lawerence Maharaj SC, has died in prison.
Maharaj, 85, served 38 years in prison for the murder of two businessmen at a hotel in Miami in 1986.
In a statement the former AG described the death of his brother as a sad loss to him and his entire family.
He said: “Kris always maintained his innocence.
“Based on the information he gave me at the time when he was charged for the offences, I formed the opinion that he was innocent. In my conversations with him during the period of time he was incarcerated and during my visits to see him in the prison, I was further convinced that he was innocent.
“I witnessed the trial in Miami and I realised that all the requisite evidence which should have been led before the jury was not produced to the court.
“All efforts, thereafter, to fight that conviction and to get a new trial failed.
“He was, however, successful in getting a ruling from a judge that he was innocent. The US Appeal Court however ruled that the evidence of innocence was not enough to free him. He was successful in getting the death sentence commuted to life imprisonment.
“It is unfortunate that those who were responsible for his first trial did not take steps to have all the relevant evidence put before the jury, That error led to him not being able to get a second chance at a retrial to produce all of the evidence.
“He found this legal battle to assert his innocence for approximately 37 years and during that period of time. He continuously maintained his innocence.”
Maharaj’s pro-bono attorney Clive Stafford Smith of the UK said on X on August 5, that Maharaj died in the prison hospital.
“Immensely sad: 1 pm ET Kris Maharaj passed away in the hospital after 38 years fighting injustice.”