Opposition fails to prove Minister Rohee culpable - AG
By -- Source - GINA
Georgetown, GINA, November 1, 2012
Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General Anil Nandlall has stated that the Alliance for Change (AFC) through Mr. Nigel Hughes, and A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) through Mr. Basil Williams have collectively, and individually failed to prove any form of guilt on the part of the police or Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee on the deaths and injuries of persons during the Linden protest.
During a live discussion on the Linden Commission of Inquiry this evening on the National Communications Network (NCN), Minister Nandlall said, “what they have managed to prove was that there were other persons who may have shot, and that there was wanton destruction of property. Hundreds of millions of dollars of state property was destroyed and several millions of dollars of private property was destroyed.”
Additionally, they produced evidence which could lead a tribunal to conclude that those people who were on the ground that day, did the destruction.
Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall and Member of Parliament Manzoor Nadir with NCN’s Edward Layne during a live discussion on the Commission of Inquiry
Minister Nandlall pointed out that Head of State Donald Ramotar had committed to an inquiry into the happenings at Linden immediately after the persons were shot and killed, and the Commissioners were selected by both the Opposition and the Government.
The contentions made were that the Minister of Home Affairs had ordered the Police to shoot the protestors at Linden on July 18.
Minister Nandlall explained that the AFC subsequently introduced an independent overseas pathologist along with a ballistics expert whose findings did not support the claims that were being made. Further, a tape introduced into evidence by Hughes himself, showed clearly that the protestors were not peaceful.
The Legal Affairs Minister said that the subsequent declarations by the opposition lawyers that they had proof of Minister Rohee’s contact with the Police on the ground that would indicate that he did give the order, were not supported when the phone records produced clearly showed that contact was made between the Minister and Senior Superintendent Clifton Hickens more than two hours after the shootings occurred.
Member of Parliament Manzoor Nadir during his input towards the discussion pointed to the unravelling of the agenda of the two opposition parties regarding the Linden situation. He observed that the issue first began just after APNU had agreed with Government on the raising of the electricity tariffs for Linden over a phased period. AFC strenuously objected and accused APNU of selling out the Lindeners. APNU backed down and said no to the increased tariffs.
The protest followed with fatal results for three persons and a no-confidence motion was brought against Minister Rohee despite the fact that a Commission of Inquiry (COI) was to be convened.
Meanwhile, as the COI got underway, the Police denied shooting the protestors and were supported by the findings of the opposition supplied independent ballistics expert who stated that the bullets did not come from the police weapons.
Additionally, while Hughes spent most of his time cross-examining the police and witnesses provided by the opposition, he failed to create the nexus that Minister Rohee gave instructions to the Police to fire on the protestors.
However, an implosion was created when Williams tried to establish that the Minister was in dereliction of his duty because he did not give such instructions.
Minister Nandlall posited that the constant shifting of the focus continued until finally Hughes walked away from it all.
He viewed the action by Hughes as preconceived, pointing out that Hughes’ withdrawal had begun and been indicated on the social networking site before he actually left the COI. The Legal Affairs Minister is of the opinion that Hughes wanted a way out after the opposition’s failure to prove their point.
Both Nadir and Minister Nandlall also pointed to the fact that after it was realised that the COI was not going their way, and that nothing presented supported the contentions of the opposition, a move is now being made to attack the integrity of the Commissioners themselves; Commissioners who were chosen by the opposition themselves along with the Government.
Nadir said that the issue has now become what the overwhelming majority of Guyanese people have seen and heard about the opposition and what they now think about the entire situation.
Minister Nandlall concluded that based on what came out of the COI, it has already been established that the police did not fire those live rounds in Linden, and that the Minister did not give those orders. However, the question of compensation did come up. He pointed to the question presented to Williams by the Commission: Should the Commission decide that the police are not responsible for the happenings at Linden and by extension the State is not responsible – who would then pay compensation? Williams responded stating that he never addressed his mind to that scenario since he believes that enough circumstantial evidence exists to implicate the police. He was reminded by the Commission that the COI would be the body that would determine that and not Williams.
In this statement, Minister Nandlall observed that Williams himself admitted that there is no solid evidence and that it was all circumstantial.