Police have not yet ruled out the possibility that supporters of prison escapee Aldet Cilice are harbouring him and keeping his whereabouts under wraps.
While harbouring escapees has been at the heart of various cases of inmates who managed to break out of Her Majesty’s Prison, Chief Superintendent of the Central Detective Unit Marvin Dames said that now is not the time for rumours to start weaving through the islands.
“We don’t want to get into speculation,” he said. “But it has happened in the past and we are very aware that there are persons out there who harbour such persons from time to time. So while there are people who, if the price is right, would be willing to harbour him we don’t want to speculate right now.”
Supt Dames added that while there had been numerous cases of sheltering convicted criminals, there is an even greater number willing to assist the police in tracking down this prisoner.
The 21-year-old Haitian-Bahamian prisoner was reportedly a part of the prison’s work detail programme and was working in the compound of the prison chaplain’s residence on Tuesday when a routine role call exposed his disappearance.
Immediately after the discovery, the Royal Bahamas Police Force dispatched crews throughout New Providence and Grand Bahama in an effort to locate the missing prisoner.
Now, the manhunt has stretched throughout the entire Bahamas.
Cilice was sentenced to three years at Her Majesty’s Prison for fraud.
He was scheduled for release on October 13, 2007.
His last known address was apartment No 1, Hawthorne Road, Oakes Field, but records indicated that he also resided at apartment A No 5, King’s Road in Freeport.
The prison work programme came under tough scrutiny after this latest escape, but Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security Cynthia Pratt tried to clear up the matter in the House of Assembly on Wednesday.
She explained that prisoners soon to be released are placed in one of four prison work details.
The release programmes, explained Mrs Pratt, comprise a spectrum of activities designed to deliver training and rehabilitation so that upon release from prison the inmates are prepared to re-enter society as a contributing and law abiding citizen.
By: IANTHIA SMITH, The Nassau Guardian
