Senior counsel Dana Seetahal has agreed with Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Joan Honore-Paul’s concerns about acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams’ comments on the “fake” e-mail. Honore-Paul said on Thursday that the CoP’s statements on the e-mail probe were “grossly reckless and irresponsible.”
Seetahal said, “When the CoP made that statement it was not just inappropriate but out of line. given the fact he was not the investigator. “But it may be that the CoP, not being an investigator himself, didn’t appreciate that. His background in the police service has been more administrative and as a police prosecutor.” Seetahal said Williams’ comments hurt the perception of how the probe is moving along in the public mind and his comments could have led people to use that view as if there was conclusion of the probe.
She said it could have also been misused by people who had self-serving agendas to suggest there had been finality and there was nothing further to come from the probe. “Whereas it had been evident to my mind that the actual documents themselves didn’t purport to be the actual e-mails,” Seetahal added.
She said everyone who saw the documents recognised they would probably have been cut and pasted and the issue is whether there were e-mails from which these documents were created and whether the contents were a true representation of the content of any real e-mails.
Given that, the CoP’s comments were “more than unfortunate,” Seetahal said, “The CoP is not just an ordinary man in the street. He’s head of the institution of the police service and to make that statement as conclusion was improper and all the other things stated by the deputy DPP. “I was shocked that the CoP said what he did, when it should have been evident what the probe was about when he assigned it to DCP Mervyn Richardson.
“Saying it was a fake was also dangerous as it led to people’s statements on that, when there had been no such finding (that it was fake).” Seetahal said the CoP missed several steps of the investigation when he made his comment. Seetahal is representing Attorney General Anand Ramlogan in the issue.
Khan: She was out of place
Deputy DPP Joan Honore-Paul’s view of acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams’ statements on the “false” e-mails was out of place, since she isn’t in charge of the investigation and she has now compromised her position as the probe’s legal adviser, says senior counsel Israel Khan. Attorney General Anand Ramlogan said he had no comment on Paul’s comments.
But Senior Counsel Khan, who is the Prime Minister’s attorney in the e-mail issue, said, “While the timing of the CoP’s statements at this stage wasn’t sagacious for him, no one can get around the fact the e-mails are false and fabricated. At least he had the guts to say it. “I’m positive the Cyber Crime Unit of the police service would have indicated the purported e-mails are false. So it is very disingenuous for the deputy DPP to criticise the acting CoP for saying his statements.
“The assistant DPP isn’t in charge of the investigation, and it isn’t within her place to speak about compromise of any probe, as she has now compromised her position as legal adviser, which she was—and nothing else.” K
han added, “Her utterances give the impression only the Prime Minister Attorney General, Suruj Rambachan and Gary Griffith are being investigated. But the police have told us at a meeting they are probing to see if these purported e-mails are totally false and in a question I put to the lead investigator on whether Dr Rowley is being investigated, either for misbehaviour in public office, or treason.”
He said the lead investigator, DCP Mervyn Richardson, had said everything was being investigated in the matter of whether the e-mails were false. “No one acting on behalf of the Prime Minister or others have called for the probe to stop, but it appears other people would like it to stop,” Khan commented. “We want this investigation to be carried to its fullest to find out who conspired to bring down the government by this big con job.”
PNM pleased:
PNM PRO Faris Al-Rawi says the PNM “is warmed (that) the independence, integrity and intelligence of the office of the DPP is able to shine as brightly as it has as evidenced by deputy DPP Joan Honore-Paul’s statement.” He added, “We maintain our call for an independent, efficient inquiry into the matter. The deputy DPP’s commentary resonates with earlier commentary by the PNM following CoP Williams’ reported statements that the e-mails were fake.
“We questioned then, as does the deputy DPP now, the ability of the acting CoP to draw conclusions on the veracity of the e-mails when he’s not the investigating officer. Al-Rawi added, “It defies logic and good sense that the acting CoP would not have distanced himself from the reported comments, which bound him to a premature and seemingly unacceptable conclusion that the e-mails are false.
“It is clear T&T can rely upon an independent, intelligent office of the DPP, and the PNM stands ready, willing and able to assist in investigation of the content of the material.”