Evidence in President’s alleged assassination plot was weak —Police legal advisor

Aug 17, 2017 News

Tenuous was among the words used by Justice Claudette Singh (Rtd) to describe the information about the alleged plot to assassinate President David Granger.

Police Legal Advisor: Justice Claudette Singh

Justice Singh was called to the stand yesterday to testify at the Commission of Inquiry established to investigate the alleged assassination plot.
In her capacity as legal advisor to the Guyana Police Force, Justice Singh noted that there was a level of uncertainty about the information which was presented to her.
Singh pointed to the fact that there was no specific date of the alleged plot and the matter was reported 21 months after the alleged plot was hatched. This produced challenges in offering legal advice.
The witness noted that based on the information she could not recommend charges for anyone, the accuser or the alleged mastermind.
Facing questions from Attorney- at -Law Glenn Hanoman, Justice Singh maintained that the evidence provided was very weak.
“I could not in all honesty advise anyone to be prosecuted based on the evidence,” she emphasized.
“I found it tenuous and I could not on the face of the evidence say that Gillard was lying and could not say that [Nizam] Khan was innocent.”
“On the evidence as a whole, I had problems… I wouldn’t say the credibility of Gillard’s story alone, because I was looking for evidence where I would have corroborated Gillard’s story.
“Mr. Hanoman you would know where I come from as a Judge and in a room where you would see the persons in action where they would give their evidence, subject to cross examination and I can ask questions but in this case you have to remember that I am only reading what the police wrote, so I have to be very careful regardless of how I feel; I have to always have an open mind,” she added.
The witness told the Commission that she is of the view the police tried their best to follow her advice. She noted too that during the investigations, the file went back and forth between her and Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum.
But since there was no specific date when the alleged plot was hatched, Justice Singh agreed with the Attorney that not having a date hampered investigators in finding someone else who would say that Gillard and Khan actually had such a conversation. She noted too the police had difficulty getting the persons involved to participate in confrontations.
“In some cases, had the scenario been where there would have been more persons, it might have been easier, but when Gillard said it was only the two of them, makes it all difficult, very difficult and a long time after…,” she said.
Singh explained from her experience, if it was a jury trial, an explanation would have to be given on why only after 21 months the report was made.
She however noted that based on the file presented to her by police on April 12, 2017 and by May 16, 2017, there was nothing to indicate that Gillard’s story was a complete fabrication.

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