National Security Minister questions US decision to sanction former members of controversial police unit

National Security Minister Dr. Horace Chang has declared that the US State Department's sanctions against former members of the now disbanded Crime Management Unit raises questions about how the United States views Jamaica's justice system.

It's believed that the sanctions are linked to the controversial killing of  four persons in Kraal, Clarendon, in 2003, for which the former CMU members were acquitted.

Dr. Chang says there are questions about why the sanctions would come now, especially since the court freed the men of the charges years ago.

He has conceded however that this is the prerogative of the American authorities, saying "It's a US decision to do what they wish to do," although, he observed, it raises questions regarding "how they view our justice system; the men went through it and were acquitted.

The public sanctions against Reneto Adams, who led the Crime Management Unit, other former members of the unit, and their immediate family members, mean they are ineligible for entry into the United States.