Tommy Lee Sparta being held in St James

Tommy Lee Sparta's lawyer, Ernest Smith, is accusing the police of breaching the constitutional rights of his client, who was transported to St James after being arrested in Kingston on Sunday morning.

Smith told THE STAR that Tommy Lee Sparta, whose real name is Leroy Russell, was whisked away to Montego Bay without his knowledge at 8 a.m. yesterday morning.

Smith said that before the artiste was taken to St James, he (Smith) had made arrangements for him to participate in a question-and-answer session with Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime Investigation Branch investigators today at 8:30 a.m. at the Half-Way Tree Police Station.

"At about 12:30 p.m. [yesterday], I got a text message from Tommy Lee's manager to say that Tommy Lee was not at the Half-Way Tree lock-up and that he had been whisked away at about 8 o'clock this morning," said Smith.

When THE STAR contacted Assistant Commissioner of Police Ealan Powell, he said he would not comment on the matter until he had been properly briefed.

But according to Smith, this arrest is a continuation of the harassment that Tommy Lee has been facing as this is the fifth time he has been taken into custody within two years.

QUESTIONED AND RELEASED

"Each time he is taken into custody, he is questioned and released, and I have had to put pressure on the police for him to be released on each occasion," Smith argued.

Smith added that he was informed that Tommy Lee is being held in St James under the state of emergency powers although he has been living in Kingston for more than four years.

"He left Montego Bay years ago on the basis that he was being accused falsely for certain things that had been happening in Montego Bay," Smith said.

"It is wrong. It is unconstitutional. It is in every way an abuse of power to take a citizen from a zone where there is no state of emergency to a zone where there is a state of emergency and say that he is now being detained under the emergency powers in that area," he added.

Meanwhile, Smith is urging supporters of the entertainer to be optimistic as he is pushing for a quick release.