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{
    "id": 1349584,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1349584/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 638,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cherarkey",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13217,
        "legal_name": "Cherarkey K Samson",
        "slug": "cherarkey-k-samson"
    },
    "content": "I stand guided, Madam Temporary Speaker. Our Constitution is clear. Under Article Eight, it says that there shall be no state religion. It leaves it at that. The right to worship and freedom is enshrined under the Bill of Rights here and across the world. I have seen the observations that the Committee has made and I agree with them. I pushed for the national forensics laboratory to be given money to do their job, especially when we were investigating extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearance. Most of cases in court by the prosecution collapse because of lack of investigations. We do not have a proper functional upgraded biology and chemistry forensic laboratories. If we have to fight crime in this country, we must invest in investigations. The reason most of the criminal cases, whether white-collar or usual crimes get withdrawn by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), is because we do not have proper and functional laboratories that can investigate issues of Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA), crime scenes and others. Madam Temporary Speaker, we must ensure that we give the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) enough resources, especially these forensic laboratories. I sometimes see in the First World, places like the United States of America (USA) and other countries that if someone committed an offence 20 years ago, that person can get arrested and prosecuted with modern technology. That limitation of crime in the criminal aspect does not exist. I know that the Vice-Chairperson of the Committee on National Security and Foreign Relations is seated behind me. I implore him to seize the matter and forward it to the counterpart Departmental Committee on National Security and Foreign Relations in the National Assembly led by my brother Hon. Tongoyo, so that they are given an adequate budget. That is how we will address crime because most of the criminals are The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}