The main opposition PNCR yesterday urged Health Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy to resign while renewing its call for an international probe into alleged links between the Bharrat Jagdeo administration and confessed drug trafficker Roger Khan.
Capitol News exclusively got hold of the 2002 letter, purportedly written by Ramsammy to confirm support for the purchase of a “cell phone interceptor and geographic integrator” on behalf of the Government of Guyana. The party alleged that the minister was tied “firmly” to the activities of Khan. “The Minister of Health must therefore resign his office forthwith,” the party declared a statement yesterday.
Ramsammy has denied knowing anything about the letter, which references “Acquiring the services of cell phone interceptor and geographic integrator,” and is dated October 24, 2002, just two months before the intercept equipment was seized from Khan and others by members of the joint services. It is addressed to someone named “Nancy.” Nancy Salvador has been revealed in court documents as being an employee of the spy shop in Miami, from where the equipment was sourced.
According to the PNCR, the alleged involvement of Ramsammy in the purchase of the “spy equipment,” directly implicates the Jagdeo administration. “This raises serious and profound questions about the legitimacy of this administration and its moral right to rule,” the party said.
This is an unprecedented development in the post independence history of this nation, the PNCR further stated, as it urged the international community to ensure that an international criminal investigation is launched to determine the extent to which the administration was involved in Khan’s criminal enterprise. “In making this demand the PNCR rejects any notion of an investigation by local law enforcement agencies for the simple reason that the government cannot investigate itself,” the party added, while saying that the situation has brought about a “serious political crisis” and that only an international probe could restore stability and normalcy. “To further delay the launching of such an investigation will cause the situation to fester, further undermine the rule of law and lead to greater instability in this society,” the party further said.
On Monday when questioned about the letter, Ramsammy flatly denied any knowledge of it.
“I don’t know anything about it,” he said. Further pressed on the issue and informed that the letter includes his ministry’s official letterhead with the ministry’s telephone numbers, he maintained his position: “Yeah but I don’t know anything. I don’t know where people are coming up with these things.”
Ramsammy was identified as having links to Khan by both US government witnesses and the defence at the recently concluded trial of former Khan lawyer, Robert Simels. The revelations in the court flowed primarily from the testimony of Selwyn Vaughn, a paid US informant who said he was a member of Khan’s ‘Phantom Squad.’ Vaughn told jurors that Khan had connections to the government through Ramsammy.
Peter Myers, the Co-director of UK firm Smith Myers, testified under oath that the intercept equipment, including an intercept receiver and two laptops, was sold by the company’s Florida sales office through the Fort Lauderdale-based Spy Shop to the Guyana government. Meyers, who identified the equipment in court, said it was only sold to governments.
Simels’ defence identified Ramsammy as the purchaser of the equipment on behalf of the government. The letter is the first piece of physical evidence that implicates the minister. However, both the government and Ramsammy have continually denied the allegation.