Freddie Kissoon had called for Nigel Hughes to “resign his leadership role in the Guyana Bar Association” 

Oct 31, 2011 Letters

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Dear Editor,
“Mouth open, story jump out” is an old idiom often heard in Guyana. There is also another popular saying that, “A liar should have a good memory”.
Freddie Kissoon’s memory is obviously very short, or he’s guilty of practicing the art of lying to his readers.
President Jagdeo’s recent attack on the integrity of Attorney-at-Law Nigel Hughes in Lusignan, provoked yet another blistering article by Freddie on his favorite target, calling the President’s statement a “naked and unbridled assault on the character of attorney, Nigel Hughes.”
He wrote, “The vicious attack on the integrity of Mr. Hughes at the Lusignan PPP rally last Sunday by President Jagdeo will not dent the huge credibility of this brilliant lawyer” (Kaieteur News, Oct. 27).
Two days earlier, Kaieteur News published an article, “Jagdeo attacks Nigel Hughes”.
Commenting on the the 2003 murder of 35-year-old Buxtonian Brian Hamilton who was shot and killed by one or more gunmen as he sat in the office of his Buxton Public Road gas station, the President said, “They had a camera and he (Hughes) took away the tape…the police never got hold of that tape and I am saying it here publicly tonight because it’s the truth and why did he take away the tape of how this guy was killed?”
By his own admission in the same article, Attorney Nigel Hughes admitted that he turned up shortly after the murder, and with the help of the decease’s father, removed the surveillance tape from the crime scene, and returned it a few days later to Police Headquarters at Eve Leary.
But Kissoon’s opinion and his memory of this event differ drastically now from a letter he wrote to Stabroek News which was published on April 12, 2003, in which he called for Nigel Hughes to “resign his leadership role in the Guyana Bar Association”.
In his letter, “Did Mr. Hughes commit an offence?”, Frederick Kissoon wrote, “I believe a lawyer can argue that it has to be proven under the Criminal Act that Mr. Hughes meant to defeat the course of justice.
But the law is no fool. Anyone could be allowed to take away evidence and innocently claim that they were acting in the best interest of the murdered victim. Surely the law cannot be that stupid to assume that persons can take away evidence from a crime scene with good intentions.” He continued, “… The fact that Mr. Hughes kept the tape for three days, he opens himself to diverse types of suspicion. It is reasonable for a curious mind to ask if the tape was tampered with.
Two senior policemen and a well placed journalist told me that the tape was altered.” He then concluded, “Now what is my opinion? I have read the Criminal Law Act (Offences) and it is clear to me that Chap. 8:01 applies to what Mr. Hughes did at the gas station. Here are the relevant passages.
329 – Anyone who conspires with any person to obstruct, prevent, pervert, or defeat the course of justice shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and liable to imprisonment for two years.
330 – Anyone who willfully attempts in any way, though not otherwise criminal, to obstruct, prevent, pervert, or default the course of justice or the administration of the law, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and liable to imprisonment for one year.”
Editor, it would appear that Frederick Kissoon in April of 2003, thought Attorney Nigel Hughes broke the law, and was unfit to be in any leadership role in the Guyana Bar Association. Yet today, he chastises President Jagdeo for saying Hughes will never be appointed Senior Counsel under his watch. Nigel Hughes may be a brilliant lawyer, but how does Kissoon justify calling for Hughes’ resignation then, and referring to him now as a lawyer “who has shown phenomenal ability in jurisprudence”; “a fine Guyanese lawyer”; and using adjectives like “integrity” and “huge credibility” to describe this man he said should resign his leadership position in the Guyana Bar Association? It would appear the hypocrisy of Freddie Kissoon has no limit. This PPP hate-monger would swallow his pride and convictions to slander the President every opportunity he gets.
With reference to Kissoon’s alleged ban on writing about Donald Ramotar in his Kaieteur News column, I fully support the publisher’s decision if true. At this time in our Nation’s history when even the political parties are attempting to unite our people, there is no room for anyone deliberately spreading hate and malice on a daily basis in the media, poisoning the minds of our youth, and creating division among our people. Freddie Kissoon is not an objective columnist, and should never be taken seriously by anyone. But the real danger lies in his lack of respect for our Head of State, and the venomous attacks on a duly elected Government.
And if Glenn Lall ever gets the courage to fire this distortionist, Freddie Kissoon will feel very much at home being a regular on his friend, Mark Benschop’s online ‘Hate Radio’.
Harry Gill

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