Last night we introduced you to Destiny, the newborn baby girl who is living in the women's section of the Hattieville Prison with her mother who is an inmate. It is a heart-wrenching story of an incarcerated single mother trying to cope as best as possible with her first child and the reality life has dealt her. And while the story touched some - in others it has let loose a firestorm of outrage. This afternoon group of concerned activists assembled a hastily called press conference to demand the release of the baby they have dubbed "Baby D." 7NEWS was there..
Emerson Guild,
"I am angry, I am very angry. I am so terribly distressed and disappointed in those people who we call our leadership."
What Emerson Guild is angry about this video we showed you last night of newborn baby Destiny inside a jail cell. The baby girl is actually living in the cell with her mother Sabrina Eiley who is an inmate at the Hattieville Prison. And no one is angrier about it than attorney Sharon Pitts Robateau.
Sharon Pitts-Robateau,
"That child was born free, that child should be free. If that baby is not free, I won't feel free in Belize anymore."
She says no matter how much a prison cell has been refurbished and renovated - it is still no place for a child.
Sharon Pitts-Robateau,
"I don't feel satisfied and it cannot explain if there is a pretty crib and a baby mobile and godmother and what you call it, convenient people within the walls of the prison at Hattieville looking after the child. That child should be free. I cannot see how we can rationalize that a child must be institutionalized. Prison to my mind is not the place for a new born child."
Senior Counsel Wilfred Elrington says that baby destiny and her mother should be released or Baby Destiny should be released into the care of a guardian.
Wilfred Elrington,
"Have her come out until she finishes rearing the child to the point where the child can be weaned."
Elrington says that under the law a baby can stay with his or her mother in the prison but that can only be done with approval from the Minister. There is no evidence that was done in this case.
Wilfred Elrington,
"I can't consider, I can't even conceive of what kind of special circumstances can be shown in this day and age for a child to be in prison with the mother. I can't even conceive of that."
And Senior Counsel Elrington says that even though Sabrina Eiley might want her daughter to be in the cell with her - right now, baby destiny is still an illegally incarcerated infant.
Wilfred Elrington,
"It has nothing to do with what the mother wants or doesn't want, she can't have her child in the prison unless she has a warrant from the court stating that person has done something wrong or like I said, the Minister gives permission under special circumstances."
And if it isn't - Guild, Pitts, and Elrington have an ultimatum for Kolbe and the government - either you remove Baby Destiny from the prison or they will lead a charge to do so.
Emerson Guild,
"I would like to make a clear clear demand, that today, by the end of this year, that child is lodged someone outside of that prison wall."
Wilfred Elrington,
"And what we will do from here tomorrow, I am prepared to go back out tomorrow morning on the streets and to protest and to demonstrate and to participate in any legal action taken with a view to liberating this child. It is an affront to us; if we allow it to happen today, tomorrow you bet it is going to happen with much more frequency."
Strong and hard talk when you consider its all about this 5 pound bundle of joy who turned one week old today.
Sabrina Eiley told us that she should be up for parole shortly.
