Jah Cure Trial: Prosecutors Seek Eight Year Prison Sentence For Reggae Singer

Prosecutors in the case against Jah Cure are lobbying for an eight-year sentence against the Reggae star, arguing that his alleged actions in The Netherlands amounted to premeditated attempted murder.

“The Court of Amsterdam will deliver its verdict on 22 March,” Franklin Wattimena, press officer of the Netherlands Public Prosecution, told DancehallMag.

“The prosecutor has asked the court to convict the 43-year-old reggae singer for attempted murder, and that the suspect should be put away for eight years with credit for time served,” noted an official statement coming out of the Dutch country.

According to Het Parool, a daily Amsterdam newspaper, the Netherlands court was not aware of Cure’s celebrity when he appeared before the judges this morning (March 8) to answer charges ranging from attempted manslaughter, aggravated assault or attempted aggravated assault in relation to an alleged stabbing incident last year.

“I got stuck with Bob Marley,” the senior judge admitted on Tuesday, at the start of the hearing.

“Then you should google my name, that would surprise you,” Jah Cure responded from the dock.

The Prison Walls singer, whose real name is Siccaturie Alcock, is accused of stabbing event promoter Nicardo ‘Papa’ Blake on October 1 at Dam Square, in the city centre of Amsterdam, where he was booked for a performance.  Cure had performed at a concert, two days before, in the Melkweg. However, he had not been paid his fee of 5,000 euros.

He was arrested following the incident and has been in custody since October 2.

In a previous interview with DancehallMag, Jan-Hein Kuijpers, one Dutch attorney-at-law representing Jah Cure, had revealed that he would be arguing a self-defense case.

However, during Tuesday morning’s hearing, the prosecution questioned the credibility of this claim, albeit the fact that the CCTV footage of the incident is inconclusive.

In the closing statement, the prosecutor argued that Jah Cure deliberately sought the confrontation. This is shown by (voice) messages that Cure sent to the victim and people that he knew.

According to the release, one of the messages to the victim read: “The last time you will live to diss man thing”.

According to Het Parool, Jah Cure’s lawyer Tim Scheffer said it was never the singer’s intention to stab the concert promoter in the first place.

“My client wanted to talk it out and just wanted his money,” he said.

The lawyer stated that the threatening messages that Jah Cure sent prior to the stabbing were “part of the Jamaican reggae culture.”

The prosecutor also pointed out that Jah Cure told the police that the victim pulled a knife out of his right pocket.

“The victim is left-handed and the suspect didn’t know this,” the prosecutor rebutted.

The prosecutor further outlined the extent of the victim’s injuries revealing that he stated that the entertainer stabbed him in his stomach, which caused a perforation of the stomach and a massive loss of blood. They supported their case with evidence from witnesses at the scene of the alleged crime.

According to a witness, Cure said on the Dam Square, just before the incident: “This is the ni–er I have to kill,” and then made a stabbing motion. The witness didn’t see a knife. But he saw the victim clutched his stomach.

Another witness saw also the stabbing motion of the suspect. He didn’t see a knife.

“The suspect picked up a knife before the meeting with the victim, not to protect himself for wearing an expensive watch,” the prosecutor argued while attempting to establish premeditation.

They further reiterated that the singer “must have known what he was doing and that the victim could die.”

“These are grave crimes that not only have consequences for the personal integrity of the victim but also severely shaken the legal order. Because the victim is stabbed in broad daylight and in the busy city center of Amsterdam. It evokes feelings of unsafety among the general public”, the prosecutor said.

There is no jury system in the Netherlands. In cases like this trials are conducted by a panel of three judges.   The judges, the prosecutor and the defense attorney may ask the suspect a number of questions. Once the panel of judges is satisfied that they have sufficient information about the case, the presiding judge will ask the prosecutor to make his or her closing statement.

In the final stage of the trial, the court may find the suspect guilty or not guilty (an ‘acquittal’), or may discharge the case. If the suspect is found guilty, the court will pass a sentence. This can be a fine, a term of imprisonment, or an ‘alternative penalty’ such as community service or restitution order.

In 1998, Jah Cure was sentenced to 13 years in prison for raping and robbing a woman at gunpoint.  He served 8 years and during the last leg of his sentence, the singer’s popularity skyrocketed following the release of his hit singles Longing For (2005), and Love Is (2005)—which he recently admitted were recorded illegally—and True Reflection (Prison Walls) (2007).

His 2015 album, The Cure, earned him a Grammy Award nomination for Best Reggae Album that year.

Last September, before his arrest, he had announced that he was adding the final touches to a new album, titled Undeniable.