Attorney General Anand Ramlogan says he feels vindicated and now has no problem with the default judgment in the Emailgate defamation lawsuit against Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley being set aside.
He was responding to a statement from the Judiciary yesterday on its preliminary investigation into the circumstances surrounding how attorneys representing Rowley failed to get critical information on the filing of their defence in the lawsuit.
The Judiciary said its initial probe found there was no evidence of a conspiracy to pervert the course of justice but there was a failure on the part of an officer to inform Rowley’s attorneys about the deadline date.
At the last week’s post-Cabinet press briefing, Ramlogan had claimed victory in the lawsuit, which was granted by the assistant registrar in default after Rowley’s attorney failed to meet the January 7 deadline to file their defence.
Rowley’s lawyers, however, claimed they never received the deadline date and questioned how Ramlogan’s attorneys alone received that information from the Judiciary.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Ramlogan said: “Dr Rowley and (attorney Faris) Al-Rawi are quick to pounce on every opportunity to articulate dangerous conspiracy theories.
“The same way I have been vindicated of any wrongdoing in this matter, so too will I be vindicated in all of the other outrageous and malicious allegations Dr Rowley has made against me.”
Welcoming the quick response by the Judiciary, Ramlogan said he had no problem if the judgment was set aside in the interest of justice.
“What I deserve is a full trial in the matter so that Dr Rowley can be cross-examined and asked to produce the evidence to justify his dangerous claims about Emailgate.
“Now that the Judiciary has confirmed that it was a failure on its part, I had no difficultly in agreeing to the judgment being set aside in the interest of justice.”
In a subsequent statement, Ramlogan said: “I seek no favours from anyone and I anxiously await my day in court.
“Dr Rowley is seeking to have trial by media instead of trial by the court of justice. His statements at today’s press conference are provocative and completely baseless and highlight his political desperation, as everything he has tried over the last four- and-a-half years to get at me, has failed.”
(See page A6)