Police Complaints Authority (PCA) head David West is now refusing to comment on whether possible links to the People’s National Movement (PNM) influenced his decision to file a statement with the police alleging that Attorney General Anand Ramlogan asked him to recant his witness statements in the Section 34 defamation lawsuit against Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley.
West was appointed as the head of the PCA three months ago, but only revealed last week that he was filing a statement with the police after a Sunday Express report stated that Ramlogan attempted to use the PCA job as a bargaining tool to encourage West to withdraw his statement supporting Rowley’s position in the high court matter.
In a brief interview yesterday, West said he had nothing more to say on the matter as it was before the police. When told that the issue of his alleged links to the PNM was not a police matter, West again declined to comment. “I am not commenting on that. I do not wish to comment on that,” he said.
In July 2009, former PNM attorney general John Jeremie took a note to Cabinet to retain West as an attorney at the Central Authority. West, according to the Cabinet note, was retained for the period July to December 2009 to supervise the mutual legal assistance requests and extradition requests made to and received by the Central Authority.
According to the Cabinet note, the monthly retainer did not cover West working on the “matters regarding Steve Ferguson and Ishwar Galbaransingh.” Under the PNM, West also held three substantive posts—head of the Central Authority, director of the Financial Intelligence Unit, and as a lawyer retained by the AG’s office. Ramlogan, back in 2011, described West as an “unsuitable” pick for FIU head.
West was offered a post as a PNM senator in 2012 but did not accept it. Sources said he was likely to take up a key post if the PNM formed the next Government. This was not confirmed.
Rowley: Let Anand tell this to the court
But Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley yesterday defended West, saying that if Ramlogan believed that West was politically motivated, he should “tell it to the court.” “It is ridiculous and I will not even dignify that with a response,” Rowley said in a telephone interview yesterday. He said West’s involvement in the Attorney General’s office under the PNM “was not a secret.” “He was a contracted public officer,” he said.
Rowley said the Government often sidelined anyone whom they believed to be PNM and West’s case was further evidence of that. West was removed from the AG’s office when the Government changed hands in 2010. “It is that asinine attitude that caused the Government to fire the highly trained security personnel,” he said, referring to the government’s move to disband Sautt, the Special Anti-Crime Unit of T&T.
Rowley said if labelling West as a PNM was part of Ramlogan’s defence strategy, then he needed to state that in his court defence filings. With regards to the Law Association of T&T’s call for Ramlogan to step down, Rowley said he too made the same call and if Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar had acted when she should have, then the country would not be in this dilemma.
Rowley said Persad-Bissessar was hoping she did not have to act on this matter. “She has provided defence for wrongdoings on numerous occasions,” he said, citing early issues with former national security minister Jack Warner, senator Mary King and former sport minister Anil Roberts. “Her style is that she only acts when she cannot escape the truth,” he said. Persad-Bissessar is expected to make a statement on the matter tomorrow at 4 pm.