Questions were raised about the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and criticisms of Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley were expressed over the Emailgate issue, at a political meeting held by the Congress of the People (COP) in Arouca on Thursday night.
The COP’s political leader and Minister of Legal Affairs, Prakash Ramadhar, came out in full defence of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar in the Emailgate issue.
In a release on Wednesday, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Joan Honore-Paul criticised Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar for her suggestion that she and her colleagues were cleared in the Emailgate probe, saying the police were far from done with their investigations and the case was still wide open
She had also criticised Persad-Bissessar for releasing contents of reports provided to the police from the US Department of Justice, saying the treaty under which this information was provided prohibited anyone else other than the national security parties probing the matter from using it.
While he respected the DPP’s office, Ramadhar said, “I want to say they get it a little bit wrong. I dealt with these people in court and they not superhuman. They not beyond mistake and they not beyond error.”
Ramadhar insisted that the PM was right when she said the emails were fake. He said Rowley read into the Hansard what were “clearly fabricated emails.”
“He made allegations against the Prime Minister and other senior office holders of conspiracy to murder, conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
“Two years after they are still holding on to this fallacy, this fabrication as if it were true. He received it and he kept it for six months without telling anyone? If he believed it what would a responsible human being do? Not go to the police? But he sat on it for six months. Therefore, logically, as far as I am concerned he did not believe it,” Ramadhar said.
He said, instead, Rowley put it before the Parliament so that the whole world heard that the Prime Minister and other senior government officials conspired to do all these “evil things.”
Saying Persad-Bissessar could not be faulted for taking steps to clear her name, Ramadhar insisted that search engine Google “checked and checked but there was no such emails.”
Turning his guns on the DPP’s office, Ramadhar said, “Now I respect the DPP’s office. I respect what they have to say but I do not have to agree.
“As far as I recall every citizen, man, woman and child is presumed innocent until proven guilty. There has not been a single charge laid against anyone. There have been only fabricated allegations made against these people.
“How could it then be said that they have not been cleared? Cleared of what? An allegation? When in fact it was proven to everyone there is no such legitimacy to the emails,” Ramadhar said.
He made mention of the Calder Hart issue, saying to date that matter had not been resolved.
“So if we are to sit down like cunumunu and wait and election come and those allegations are still hanging over the head are we not entitled to defend ourselves?
“And I say ourselves because we are People’s Partnership, because what affects the Prime Minister affects us,” Ramadhar said.
He also accused Rowley of chasing former prime minister Patrick Manning out of the PNM, charging that a “mob-like” mentality had now taken over that party.
‘Police mischief’
Wading in on the Police Service, Ramadhar said it had been some 13 years since the case involving Sadiq Baksh began and was still hanging in the balance.
Missiles and cocaine were discovered in Baksh’s water tank in 2002.
“We have a long bitter history of mischievous police action. I am not for a moment suggesting anything but I have to be alert and I learnt a long time ago if you suspect or you smell anything going wrong put a light on it. T&T put a light on what is going on with that email investigation,” Ramadhar added.
He said if this was not done then the PP Government would go into the general election without a conclusion to the case by either the police or the Integrity Commission.
“You have the allegations but you never know some charge could emanate from it.”