One of Jamaica’s most prominent performers of the twenty-first century, Vybez Kartel is now a free man.
Vybez Kartel stepped out of prison on July 31, 2024, with his other three co-defendants, regaining his freedom. The Jamaican music star has been in jail since 2011 for the murder of Clive “Lizard” Williams, for which they were convicted by a Jamaican jury.
For years, Vybez Kartel’s lawyers have claimed that his conviction was based on circumstantial evidence gleaned from communications exchanged with a discredited witness via his BlackBerry phone.
After nearly a decade of protracted legal proceedings, the case was referred to the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which offered the Jamaican Court of Appeal the choice of declaring a retrial or acquitting the defendants.
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The Jamaican Court of Appeal ultimately decided to close the case because they considered Vybez Kartel was unable to serve any substantial sentence resulting from a retrial due to the musician’s rapidly worsening health.
Fans of Kartel, who continued to release music while incarcerated, were overjoyed to hear the news of his release.
Vybez Kartel’s reputation went far beyond the Caribbean, with his music being a pinnacle in the global exporting of dancehall.