Vice President and Justice Minister Raynold Oilouch said that the observation on the leniency of Court’s sentences against convicted drug traffickers is “not a new thing”, explaining further that it has been an on-going complaint of the public for a long time.
In an interview with Island Times during the swearing in ceremony for the new Chief of the Division of Corrections (DOC) on Friday, June 8, Oilouch reiterated that the different agencies must work together to curb drug trafficking problems.
“It doesn’t make much sense for us to work hard and prosecute but then the Court just give slight sentence. It brings down the morale of my officers,” Oilouch said.
Oilouch also shared that there is a rule for the parole board to also review the prisoners every now and then to see whether they will be released or not.
“It takes the whole community to work together to really want to get rid of the drug problem in Palau,” Oilouch said.
Oilouch also said that with their efforts in curbing the illegal drug problems in Palau, he believed that the proliferation of illegal drugs in Palau had dropped down but he was quick to add that while it may had dropped down, no one can tell whether it’s going to rise up again.
“You’ll never know, it can go down and it can go up again,” Oilouch said, stressing that they continue to be aggressive with their efforts against drug trafficking and be consistent with it.
Previously, Oilouch had sent a letter to Chief Justice Arthur Ngiraklsong, urging the judiciary to support the government’s war against illegal drugs by ensuring that convicted criminals received the punishments they deserved and cited that sentences against convicted drug traffickers “appear to be too lenient.” (Rhealyn C. Pojas)