Gary Griffith, security adviser to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, is no longer concerned that investigators in the e-mail probe were taking a long time to return his computer and BlackBerry cellphone. In a telephone interview yesterday, Griffith said the police could keep the items for “a year or ten years” if they wanted to.
Last week, Griffith complained he wanted back the items which he handed to the police about a month ago. He also was concerned that some of the national security information on the devices could be compromised. Griffith now says he had no intention of pressuring the police and wants to give them his full support to ensure the matter was properly investigated.
He said: “I am going along this line because I want to show I have trust in the police which is a critical element in crime-reduction. I do not want this investigation to be tarnished in any way and it is also important the public have trust in the police.” He said the police had told him he would get back his computer and cellphone within a certain period.
“When I asked for my items to be returned, this was based on the police telling me it would in fact be done by a particular time. It was a mistake they made, on their part, in that they should have been more specific regarding the time period.” He said when the information was taken his IT technicians were not present. Asked if he was worried by that, Griffith said he would “like to believe” the police “are professionals.”
He said: “I do have confidential information about matters of national security on my computer and phone but if you can’t trust the police, who can you trust? “I just want the country to see that these e-mails were fabricated.” Deputy Police Commissioner Mervyn Richardson has assured the computer and phone will be handed back to Griffith. Saying he was pleased with the progress of the investigation, Richardson said several people had been interviewed by the police.
He said the police also had contacted the Telecommunications Services of T&T Ltd (TSTT) for assistance. Foreign experts have not yet been contacted.