AG ‘s Nandlall threat against KN…DPP action demoralizes staff – lawyer says

Dec 25, 2014 News

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Days after a controversial decision that she could find no grounds to charge Attorney General, Anil Nandlall,

for a shocking phone-call with a senior reporter of Kaieteur News, the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack, is coming under more fire.
According to Attorney-at-Law, Christopher Ram, the DPP, despite evidence of “illegalities” carried out by senior public functionaries, has established a pattern of behavior which saw none being charged.
“It is appalling that any professional would be so reckless about their reputation. Her appointment owes as much to that other violator, (President) Bharrat Jagdeo, as to the manner in which it was carried out.”
Ram is the lawyer for Kaieteur News. He said the matter will continue to be pursued at another level.
“My clients Glenn Lall, Adam Harris and Leonard Gildarie are naturally dismayed at the decision but will not let this matter rest. They are considering their options in the face of this barely disguised political block placed by Ms. Hack.”
He said that the police should not accept the decision by the DPP but rather should consult with its Legal Adviser, Justice Claudette Singh.
“The police have an experienced former judge as its Legal Advisor who the Commissioner of Police should now consult. The public will be looking to see if she would accept this irrational and baseless decision by Ms. Hack.”
The phone call had shocked Guyana after Nandlall, who admitted to the tape, insisted that he was a “Chatree”- a high class Indian.

According to Ram, the AG also admitted “to raiding the public purse, pimping on behalf of a male law-breaking relative, claimed knowledge of a plot to cause harm, and disclosed knowledge of governmental interference into a criminal tax case.
“Yet the DPP, Ms. Shalimar Ali-Hack could find nothing wrong.”
Lall had filed a complaint with police two days after that call, but there was a perception that the matter was being deliberately delayed, first at the level of the police and then at the DPP Chambers.
The lawyer said that by her “abominable” decision, the DPP has shown herself to be “no better than Nandlall”.
“She is known to have allowed religion to affect her work, dragging the CIOG (Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana) into the scandalous, trumped up charges against the NBS (New Building Society) three and interfering in the police investigation into serial sexual offences committed by a Muslim cleric.”
He said that with Ali-Hack at the helm of the Office of the DPP, it is no surprise that crime is spiraling out of control.
“For all the illegalities carried out by members of the PPP, Ms. Hack has never once recommended bringing any charge.

“Her irrational discharge of her functions brings her office into disrepute and demoralizes her subordinates, something she seems unwilling to appreciate or unable to recognize.”
The DPP said in a statement earlier this week that the file on the matter has been returned to the police, advising that no charges be laid against Nandlall.
The advice came a few days after several persons protested outside her office accusing her of compromising the integrity of her office.
The DPP in her statement, described the recorded conversation between “personal friends” Gildarie and Nandlall as private. Based on the evidence contained in the police file, the conversation was “not between the Attorney General…and Mr. Glenn Lall.”
She explained that the offence created in Section 141(a) Chapter 8:02 is in relation to the speaker using threatening language with intent to provoke anyone else to commit a breach of the peace, that is, provoking another person to do so.
According to the DPP, the threatening language must be such as is likely to provoke a breach of the peace by anyone else that is the person to whom the threat is directed.
She said that for the threatening language to result in provocation, the threat must be directly communicated to the person to whom it concerns, that is, in his presence and hearing.
“There is no evidence of this contained in the police file,” the DPP stated.
She further stated that the offence created in Section 141 (b) Chapter 8:02 is in relation to the person using abusive, insulting, obscene or profane language to the annoyance of another, that is, such language is used directly to the other person in his presence and annoys him.
“There is no evidence of this (also),” she pointed out.
“The alleged recording of a telephone conversation between the Attorney-General and the Minister of Legal Affairs and Mr. Gildarie, does not fall under Section 1a1 (a) or (b) Chapter 8:02,” Ali-Hack stated.
“In these circumstances the communication to Mr. Gildarie does not provide an evidential basis which can support the institution of criminal proceedings,” she added.
Kaieteur News Publisher, Glenn Lall, had filed a complaint with the police, alleging that the Attorney General threatened the safety of his employees when during the conversation, he spoke of an imminent attack on the newspaper’s main office on Saffon Street, if the entity continued with its exposure of government corruption.
The recording had been the most downloadable piece of news in Guyana with the AG coming under heavy pressure to resign.
Several local and international organizations, including human rights bodies, have called for his resignation. But Government has stood by the embattled minister.
The phone call followed investigations by this newspaper into the importation of Mercedes Benz SUV by an uncle of Nandlall under the remigrant duty free concession scheme.
The local bar association and the Opposition have also called for Nandlall’s sacking.
The social media websites, like FaceBook, and the comments section of the newspapers, have been inundated with comments condemning the Government over its stance to protect Nandlall from the backlash of that conversation.

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