Roger Khan mythology

Jun 13, 2008 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

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Mr. Khan may not be feeling too well in his cell after what President Jagdeo said about him. I listened to it on the car radio and thought that it may be used against Mr. Khan by the judge if on being found guilty, the judge has to take all things into consideration.

The Guyanese Head of State said that if found guilty, Mr. Khan should face the full force of the law. This statement was made subsequent to Messrs. Clement Rohee and Donald Ramotar getting into the act.
Mr. Rohee asserted that the Government of Guyana did not authorise Mr. Khan to purchase the portable computer (laptop) that monitored the physical perimeters within which telephone calls originate.

There is bound to be a loser in this episode of the computer purchase. If Mr. Khan’s lawyers cannot prove that he had the permission of a government to secure a sensitive piece of security equipment then his case becomes weak.
His lawyers would be seen by the jurors as people who are trying to deceive the courts. Mr. Khan’s lawyers’ competence is on the line here.
Why would you tell a juror that your client was on a BA flight that arrived in Barbados but you cannot produce any documentation from the airline or the Barbadian immigration?
There could be two losers in this computer controversy. Only Governments can procure these types of high tech devices from Spy Shops in Florida, the store that sold the item. If Khan didn’t get authorization from the Guyana Government, then the FBI obviously will come into play. The FBI will want to know who the buyer was and why did Spy Shops sell a prohibited item to persons who legally are barred from buying it.
The computer incident should attract the FBI’s interest in the context of America’s security obsession. If Spy Shops sold the stuff to an ordinary dealer other than a government, then the FBI may want to know how many other high tech gadgets Spy Shops allowed to be purchased over the counter?
The government obviously will find itself in a self-destructive vortex if Mr. Khan’s attorney produced papers to show that Khan acted as the liaison for the state of Guyana when he bought the laptop from Spy Shops.

Mr. Donald Ramotar has gone on record as saying that the PPP never had any association with Mr. Khan. Ramotar further contended that as far as he knows, party members had no contact with Mr. Khan.
These are two superficial statements that have no meaning for the analyst. First, if a Minister of the Guyana Government shared a relationship with Khan, then it clears Mr. Ramotar because as a private organization, the PPP is not privy to what Ministers do all the time.
Secondly, Mr. Ramotar is fully protected politically if it is known that a PPP leader did meet frequently with Khan. Mr. Ramotar could fall back on the specificity of his statement which is “according to my knowledge”, which is what he said.
It is important for Dr. Luncheon and the President to state categorically that Cabinet members never met with Khan for any purpose whatsoever. And if they did whether it was for formal discussion on a particular subject or it was an informal encounter.
I have been informed by one of the most respected and admired Guyanese in this country and one that the Caribbean society itself recognizes as a great Guyanese, that Mr. Khan met with someone who has a very high and substantial position within the nerve-centre of Government.

I have no reason to doubt Mr. Ramotar, but simultaneously, I have no reason to disbelieve what this very, venerated Guyanese told me.
In the social sciences, there is a methodology titled, logical deduction. Mr. Khan has publicly said that he spent his own resources to fight the gunmen (he no doubt meant the Mash Day escapes) operating from Buxton.

How in a small country like this, could Mr. Khan undertake such a gigantic task and not come into contact with any senior Cabinet member?
But what about the controversial businessman who also fought the Buxton gunmen and was associated with Khan in that pursuit who told me a story that we printed on the front page of this newspaper?
He alleged that then Home Affairs Minister, Ronald Gajraj wanted to kill him. We ran his claim and sought a response from Gajraj. The Minister denied anything of the sort but he did not disclaim having contacts with that controversial investor. So if Minister Gajraj met and discussed Buxton with a lesser operative, is it not possible that Khan would have been in the frame too?
I suspect the Roger Khan trial is going to tell us about some macabre dimensions of Guyanese politics between 2002 and 2004. They will resemble Shakespearian plots.

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