Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Basil Williams, in justifying government’s move to assemble a special prosecution team to take legal action against those culpable of wrongdoings in the Pradoville 2 investigation, among others, said that the Director of Public Prosecution’s (DPP) Office indicated they were uncomfortable with prosecuting these matters.

“…we don’t want people whose heart is not in it to mess up the prosecutions,” AG Williams said

According to Williams there is nothing wrong with the use of special prosecutors in high profile cases. In an interview with the Government Information Agency (GINA), today, Williams said, “This is something that is not unusual in Guyana, so I don’t know what the hue and cry is.”

However, the Attorney General (AG) told GINA that Cabinet examined the matter to ensure that, “we could identify people to prosecute these cases, people with competence” after staff from the Director of Public Prosecution’s (DPP) Office indicated they were uncomfortable with prosecuting these matters.

“They have suggested that they are political cases and some indicated they might have known the minister, but largely because it is a political nature,” were the reasons given by DPP staff, AG Williams explained.

The Attorney General added that while it is the state prosecutor’s job to defend matters, the government has an interest in protecting state assets and ensuring that action is taken against those involved in corrupt practices. “If they are employed as state counsel, they have a duty to discharge their state responsibilities but…we don’t want people whose heart is not in it to mess up the prosecutions,” AG Williams said.

The AG told GINA he does not foresee the DPP having any problems issuing fiats, granting permission for the use of special prosecutors. A fiat is a short order or warrant of a judge or magistrate directing some act to be done; an authority issuing from some competent source for undertaking of some legal act.

Special prosecutors have already been tapped to deal with these cases, the minister stated. “We hav