| Felix still to answer questions about recorded conversations - in light of Granger’s call for Commission of Inquiry |  |  |  |
| Wednesday, 13 February 2013 22:57 |
GUYANESE still await answers from former Commissioner of Police, Winston Felix, in relation to alleged recorded telephone conversations during which he is widely interpreted to have undermined the security of the State and acted in gross dereliction of duty as the head of Guyana’s internal security.  Winston Felix In one of the recorded telephone conversations, voices widely recognised by the ordinary Guyanese listener to be that of Felix and PNCR Vice Chairman, Basil Williams, were speaking about serious security matters, including the 2001 Agricola massacre in which eight persons were executed. Ironically, Felix who now sits as a Member of Parliament for A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), is critical of the Guyana Police Force, its ranks and the stewardship of current Home Affairs Minister, Clement Rohee.  Basil Williams In those recorded conversations, the voices widely believed to be those of Felix and Williams, discussed issues ranging from controversial Kaieteur News publisher, Glenn Lall and the newspapers’ Editor-in-Chief Adam Harris, to the murders at Agricola in what appeared to be organised criminal activities, using various code names and vague descriptions of individuals. During that conversation, the voice which bore a striking resemblance to Felix’s, disclosed that he tried to turn attention away from the real perpetrators of the Agricola massacre, but that he was becoming fearful the facts were coming out. According to the conversation, this voice resembling Felixs’ said, “So, but in the interim, in the initial stages I…(muffled), I made a firm decision that me ain’t saying nothing, but them people, I turning them away”. Also, the voice widely believed to be that of Felix was overheard, in the recorded conversation, instructing a police officer to plant drugs on a woman going through the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA). There are several outstanding answers needed to bring closure to these ‘conversations’, but a usually vocal Felix has since been dodging questions on these conversations. There are several suspicions about which individual or group might have released these recordings. These conversations still leave many questions in the hang. To date, Felix has not once denied that it was his voice in those recordings.  David Granger Is he directly pointing to the police Target Special Squad (TSS or Black Clothes)? After all, Blair was killed by the police, despite the police claiming otherwise. Given that no one has claimed the killing of Waddell (and even Williams allegedly noted this in the conversation), how could the Commissioner make this claim? Should he be seen as hiding information from the public, or obstructing a case from being solved by not making his views public? These are still the musings of thousands of law-abiding Guyanese who, in their wildest imagination, never expected a Commissioner of Police to voice these positions either privately or publicly. What "threat" was the voice resembling Basil Williams’ talking about when he said: "…of threats and stuff like duh?" Many Guyanese have wondered - was it street violence? Gunplay? Criminal attacks? And when? Was it to be during elections to prevent people from going to vote? Or were they really relating to a security threat regarding the World Cup Cricket? What did the voice resembling the commissioner’s mean when he said that him and "number one" have to "refine our position about it"? Why would a Commissioner of Police divert law-enforcement officers away from the scene of the crime of the Agricola massacre – is still a horrendous thought occupying the minds of thousands of Guyanese. Meanwhile, the former commissioner still has not managed to give any realistic and believable explanation for the reasons why a wanted man at that time, Roger Khan, would call a sitting Police Commissioner “a good” friend. In a full-page paid advertisement, Khan - a convicted drug trafficker and phantom squad boss, admitted he was a close friend with then Commissioner of Police Felix. Felix is now one of APNU's spokespersons on security issues. Khan had committed himself to stand before a Commission of Inquiry to answer any questions about his relationship with the former Police Commissioner, while asking if the police official was prepared to do the same or even undergo a polygraph test. The recent motion tabled in Parliament by Opposition Leader, David Granger to discuss the establishment of a Commission of Inquiry into criminal episodes in Guyana must take these conversations into consideration. |
Extracted from the Guyana Chronicle Newspapers
