Former minister in the Ministry of National Security, attorney Subhas Panday, is questioning whether the police Cyber Crime Unit has the capability to investigate the e-mail scandal raised in Parliament by Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley. Panday’s comments came days after Rowley read the 31 e-mails in Parliament. Asked if he believed the allegations were true, Panday said he did not know. However, he said Rowley was reckless if he did not verify the authenticity of the information.
“Rowley attacked the judiciary, he attacked the free press, an institution which the Constitution protects...He attacked cabinet ministers with an allegation which is tantamount to conspiracy to murder,” he said. “These are serious allegations and anyone would have thought that someone who has that kind of information would have checked the authenticity of the source by using whatever expertise we have.” He noted that such information, if true, could easily bring down the Government.
“In this fight, there is no draw...Somebody must hit the floor,” Panday. “If Rowley’s attack was deliberate and even if he was reckless, he should resign because he has brought not only himself, his party, the Parliament, Government and all the people of T&T into disrepute, if those e-mails were fraudulent.” He also called for a review of parliamentary rules to prevent character assassination.
“There are fanatics on both sides making statements and the time has come for us to deal with this,” he said. “It is dangerous and maybe the rules of Parliament have to change. The freedom of parliamentary privilege is not a licence to bring the Parliament into disrepute. It is freedom of speech to represent constituents. “It is meant to champion your cause but not to scandalise and bring Parliament into ridicule, hate and scorn. The Standing Orders need to be reviewed forthwith.”
He added that the country would go into a tailspin if the e-mails were authentic. Acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams, who appointed a team to probe the e-mails, said there had already been a lot of investigations involving cyber security, but could not say whether there had ever been any charges or convictions for cyber crimes. Acting Insp Sylvester, who is head of the Cyber Crime Unit, was not available for comment and did not respond to messages left for him.
A Cpl Smith at police headquarters said the telephone contact numbers for the cyberspace unit were not accessible to the public. Former president of the Media Association Dale Enoch, head of news at radio station i95.5, called for an independent investigation into the e-mail exposé. He said, “The police have started investigating now but I would feel a lot better if we get an independent team to probe this because a lot is at stake.”
He said the country still did not know if the e-mails were authentic. “If it is true, it would be a frightening reality for us as journalists which could push some of us in the direction of self-censorship,” he said. “Some journalists may be fearful of practising our craft, and we cannot allow that to happen. We have a vibrant media in T&T and it would take more than that to make us cower, but there are some who may bow under such pressure.” He said politicians would always make attempts to control the media.