Former attorney general Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj says Government should consider sourcing help from foreign law enforcement officers to investigate the murder of Dana Seetahal SC. In an interview with i 95.5 FM on Sunday, Maharaj said Government ought to use Seetahal’s murder to make or try to make a dent and to show the population it was serious about fighting crime. He said Government should also try to make arrests in the last 25 murders or so. “Even if it means getting help from the FBI and the equivalent in Canada and Britian. We cannot continue like this. The criminals have taken over T&T. They are in charge,” he added. Recalling his memories of Seetahal, he said she worked under him during his tenure as Attorney General. “In addition,” he said, “I practised against her in the courts and there can be no doubt that she was a good lawyer. She was a lawyer who was not only concerned about getting her point across to judge and jury but was concerned with justice.”
He said there could be no doubt that she had left an indelible mark on the legal profession. The circumstances surrounding her death, he said, must cause people to wonder what is happening in beautiful T&T. “It is quite clear that it was premeditated.” However, he asked people not to speculate about the motive. Maharaj admitted he was spooked after hearing of Seetahal’s death because of threats on his own life. Claiming he was told that a minister had said he had a silver bullet for him, Maharaj said: “When I was awakened by this news and I sat down having a cup of coffee, I must confess it all went through my mind as to whether I should not take more serious action. What I plan to do from today is to increase my security.” Maharaj said while the Government is not directly responsible for the murders, the killings were happening in an environment where there was no crime plan. “What is happening at the government level where people can do what they want and get away with it, there is no investigation,” he added. He said members of society could not be expected to uphold the law when government members were breaking and compromising the law.