Embattled Entertainer Tommy Lee Sparta Showdown

BURT Samuels, attorney-at-law for embattled entertainer Tommy Lee Sparta, said he will be filing a claim with the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) if the Dominican Government does not start compensation negotiations, within the next 30 days, in relation to his client’s deportation.

Tommy Lee Sparta, 26, whose given name is Leroy Russell, along with three members of his team, was deported from that Caribbean territory on Monday, February 24, a day after their arrival.

The entertainer and his team had journeyed to Dominica to perform at a concert in Portsmouth. They were, however, denied entry and placed in custody under inhumane conditions before being deported.

Samuels in a letter to Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister AJ Nicholson on Wednesday, invited the Jamaican Government to intervene in the matter. The letter further stated that Tommy Lee Sparta and his team were forced to leave the island without any reason given for the denial of entry.

The letter, in part, reads:

“We write to make a formal complaint to you regarding the treatment of these Jamaican nationals by agents of the Dominican Government, which we are of the view was in breach of the Revised Treaty of Chaguramas articles 7, 8 and 46, inter alia.

“Article 7 titled Non-Discrimination states that:

‘any discrimination on grounds of nationality shall be prohibited’.

Article 8 titled Most Favoured Nation Treatment states that: ‘each Member State shall, with respect to any rights covered by this Treaty, accord to another Member State treatment no less favourable than that accorded to:

(a) a third Member State; or

(b) third States.

Article 46, which deals with the Movement of Skilled Community Nationals, speaks specifically to musicians, at (e) being accorded to the right to seek employment . Section 2 of Article 46

state that:

‘2. Member States shall establish appropriate legislative, administrative and procedural arrangements to :

(a) facilitate the movement of skills within the contemplation of this Article;

(b) provide for movement of Community nationals into and within their jurisdiction without harassment of the imposition of impediments’,” it continued.

Sparta, in recent times, has been making the news. He was recently charged for breaches under the Anti-Lottery Act.

He is known for songs including Grave Yard, Uncle Demon, and Psycho.

— Simone Morgan