Former attorney general Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj says the entire Cabinet could be the subject of a police investigation if it is proven that pressure has been applied on National Security Minister Gary Griffith to withdraw his statement in the matter involving Anand Ramlogan and David West. Maharaj said Cabinet members could face a probe “for attempting to pervert the course of justice” if this had indeed happened. He said this would mean the entire Cabinet was now “contaminated.”
“If it is correct that members of Cabinet, at a weekly meeting, allegedly tried to apply pressure on Griffith to change his story...to bury information relating to a criminal offence, it would mean that the police would have to direct their investigations for an attempt to pervert the course of justice by members of the Cabinet. “So all the members of Cabinet who participated and encouraged this must be the subject of a police investigation.
“It looks like Griffith is standing for the truth. The issue is, did they try to put pressure on Griffith? If they tried to put pressure on Griffith, that is where the offence is committed.” The former AG said acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams should call for a police investigation into Cabinet immediately. While there is immunity for members of Parliament, Maharaj said, “there is no immunity for members of Cabinet if they are engaged in an unlawful conduct.”
In the last week, Maharaj said, the Government had lost all credibility and morality. Maharaj said the ramifications of this new development could lead “Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to fire the Attorney General, dissolve Parliament, and call a general election.” He said although this had never happened in T&T before, it would be the starting point for the country to be “purged because no one is above the law...not even a member of the Cabinet.”
“It is unheard of for Cabinet members to apply pressure on one of their own...It is not what you would hear in a democratic country and according to the rule of law. In another country, if that had occurred, the Prime Minister and her Cabinet would have to resign. And we should follow suit. If the PM fails to act swiftly, more pressure will come her way.” Maharaj described the PM’s explanation for not firing Ramlogan as weak and lame.
“She should have dealt with the matter upon her return from Costa Rica the same night or next morning. That is of priority to “the country. The Prime Minister is obviously afraid to deal with this situation. And there may be good reason why she believes that she should not deal with it.” Maharaj said even if the PM removed Ramlogan it would still show she lacked leadership.
missteps involving ag ramlogan
Emailgate—The matter was first brought to the public’s attention by Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley during a motion in Parliament in May 2013. Rowley had read out a thread of e-mails in the Section 34 fiasco, which he claimed alleged serious misconduct on the part of those involved.
The e-mails were purported to have come from e-mail addresses belonging to the PM, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan, and three other senior ministers. Rowley is moving to strike out a legal victory being claimed by Ramlogan in the Emailgate scandal.
Section 34—was proclaimed on August 31, 2012. Approximately 42 applicants filed motions to have their criminal cases dismissed. The act sought to abolish preliminary inquiries for serious criminal matters. Section 34 had caused widespread concern and anger. There were also reports that businessmen Ish Galbaransingh and Steve Ferguson who are facing fraud charges on the Piarco Airport project might have been able to go free because of Section 34. The AG was linked to this matter.
Prisongate—On August 30, 2013, then Solicitor General Eleanor Donaldson-Honeywell bypassed her line minister Attorney General Anand Ramlogan and wrote to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar expressing concerns about what she called an “unethical business” venture in prison litigation matters. Last April, Persad-Bissessar broke her silence on the issues related to the alleged unethical conduct of lawyers and inmates involved in prison-related lawsuits against the State, and in which calls have been made for the Office of the Attorney General to be investigated, and referred the matter back to Ramlogan for investigation.
Failed State of
Emergency—Sixteen men arrested during the 2012 State of Emergency (SoE), and allegedly linked to a plot to kill Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and three government members, had signalled their intention to sue the State if compensation for their alleged wrongful detention was not made. The men were released from the Eastern Correctional Facility, Santa Rosa, without being charged when the SoE was lifted. Opposition Leader Keith Rowley slammed Ramlogan “for threatening people” who seek to take legal action if they believe that they have been wrongfully arrested, maliciously prosecuted, or faced false imprisonment.