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Datadin denies conflict of interest in Lowenfield fraud trial
– debunks Nigel Hughes’ claims of political bias
Attorney-at-law, Sanjeev Datadin
Kaieteur News – Attorney-at-law, Sanjeev Datadin, is debunking accusations made by fellow lawyer, Nigel Hughes, that he is unable to fairly prosecute the electoral fraud cases owing to his connection with the ruling People Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C).
In a scathing letter addressed to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack, Datadin described the claims made by Hughes, as inter alia “contrived facts without legal foundation and representation of a perversion of established legal principles for reasons of convenience.”
“In short, it represents submissions of the ilk that 33 is not a mathematical majority of 65,” Datadin said in response to Hughes’ call for his appointment as special prosecutor to be revoked.Late last month, Hughes, the lawyer for Guyana Election Commission (GECOM) Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield, who is facing several electoral fraud charges, made objections in court over Datadin, a government Member of Parliament (MP), prosecuting his client.
Hughes had noted that Datadin being a MP for the PPP/C with responsibility to prosecute the matter that is highly political in nature would result in his client not having a fair trial.
Attorney-at-law, Nigel Hughes
However, in the correspondent to the DPP yesterday, Datadin said that proceedings against Lowenfield are in no way political.In fact, the lawyer said that: “The actions of Mr. Lowenfield are alleged to have offended the criminal laws of Guyana; I know of no political laws. It is elementary that matters which offend the criminal laws of our country are criminal in nature; nothing more, nothing less.”The attorney noted, too, that public officials must perform their statutory and public functions in accordance with the laws of Guyana- “failure to do so, if it offends the criminal statutes and results in criminal charges.”
Further, Datadin suggested that “Mr. Hughes twisted characterization,” that the matters are political are only for convenience so that the rest of his letter would have relevance.“Once the correct characterization of the matters as criminal is recognized, the rest of Mr. Hughes’ letter is exposed as being preposterous,” Datadin said in a letter to the DPP.
On the issue of conflict of interest, Datadin noted that his oath as a parliamentarian is to the Constitution and to the people of Guyana identical to the oath he took as an attorney-at-law.
Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack,
In this regard, he noted that Hughes is on record representing all of the public officers of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) who have been charged while he was a chairman of a political party and is the spouse of a sitting Opposition Parliamentarian.
“Curious that all of the public officers of the supposedly independent GECOM have chosen a lawyer with such strong political affiliations; who now makes the assertions of bias and conflict of interest,” the lawyer said.
As such, Datadin said that Hughes’ claim is a transparent and naked attempt to delay the hearing of these criminal matters, which are of great public importance.
“I am of the view it ought to proceed without delay. If Mr. Hughes’ letter demonstrates nothing else, it demonstrates the level of frivolity, which will be utilized in delaying the trial of these matters. Unless, just maybe, he is intimidated by my skills as a prosecutor,” Datadin said in the letter.
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