FREE JAH CURE

Barring any breaches of prison rules over the next four months, Jah Cure
and his many fans will get what they have longed for, the reggae singer's
release.JAH CURE. could perform on Reggae Sunsplash

Major Richard Reese, who heads the Correctional Services Department,
said on Friday that the singer is due to see the inside of a cell at the
Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre in Kingston for the last time in July.

"If he doesn't commit any institutional breaches he will be released,
" Reese told the Sunday Observer. Jah Cure, whose real name is Sycatore
Alcock, was found guilty of robbery, rape and illegal possession of a
firearm and was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 1998. He served the
first part of his sentence at the St Catherine Adult Correctional Centre,
but was transferred to the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre after
he was held with what prison officials described as 'contraband'.

Word on the street was that Jah Cure was found in possession of
recording equipment and illicit drugs during a search of his cell.
Jah Cure also had an appeal against his conviction turned down
and was denied parole on two previous occasions.

During the trial, the court was told that the singer and an accomplice
held up two women and two men at gunpoint. The police said Alcock
and an accomplice chased the men away before robbing and raping
the two women on a dirt track in Montego Bay. Jah Cure was eventually
arrested and convicted but his accomplice, who it is alleged raped the
other woman in a pile of gravel, has never been brought to justice.

It is widely believed in law enforcement circles that the other man was
subsequently shot and killed by gunmen. If Alcock is released in late July,
he could perform on Reggae Sunsplash in early August. However, a source
close to the singer said Jah Cure was planning on organising a major
concert to celebrate his freedom.