President Bharrat Jagdeo has said that the fact that former army major David Clarke was sentenced to time served in a US court and was not deported does not change his perception of the man since he already knows “what I know.”
The President was asked about the December 4 sentencing of the former army officer after a recent press conference and he said he could not comment on the sentence as that question would have to be posed to the US justice authorities.
“But that doesn’t change anything… I know what I know… My perception of David Clarke has not changed. He is a criminal,” Jagdeo said.
Clarke was sentenced to time served by Judge Raymond Dearie in a New York Court and the judge had commented that it was a “remarkable case” and told Clarke to allow him to read his memoirs when he wrote it.
Clarke, who was to be the star witness had Roger Khan gone to trial, was at one time head of Operation Tourniquet in Buxton, an operation that had been aimed at quelling the crime wave but was not successful. Instead, it had been alleged that Clarke was actively working with the criminals and also with drug kingpin Roger Khan to traffic in cocaine.
President Jagdeo had publicly accused him of being in cahoots with the Buxton criminals while he was stationed there as head of Tourniquet. This accusation also came from convicted drug trafficker Khan.
Following a report in this newspaper about Clarke being in a US jail on drug trafficking charges, Jagdeo revealed that he had received “confidential information” from Buxtonians that the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) officer was working with criminals. At the time Jagdeo, who said he was “vindicated” in blocking Clarke’s promotion for a year and ordering that he return home from an overseas training stint he had been halfway through, said he could not order a court-martial as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces since he wanted to protect the identities of the informers. He had also said, just a few months ago, that he was still not willing to reveal the persons’ identities.
“I have made it clear about my position on Clarke because… I knew about Clarke …the information on Clarke came from people whom I know in Buxton. And I would never ever, ever betray their confidence because they told me this in confidence. And I had it. It was clear. I shared it but you had a cabal that was pushing it but of course he didn’t get to move forward. …this happens routinely, people share information,” Jagdeo had said at a press conference some time ago.
In 2003, the President had created a stir when he had refused Clarke’s promotion; the only one he denied from a long list of recommended officers. The then captain was recommended by a promotions panel chaired by the then army Chief of Staff, Brigadier Michael Atherly, based on the recommendation of his battalion commander.
The commander’s recommendation was said to be based on Clarke’s attitude and performance in his substantive rank, his suitability for promotion to higher rank and authority as well as his suitability for retention in the army.
That assessment was reached based on the recommendation of a promotion panel at the battalion level, which reviewed the ex-officer’s annual confidential reports and assessed his suitability.
However, Clarke was subsequently promoted.
Stabroek News was reliably informed that when Clarke learnt of his indictment in April 2006 he was attending the University of Guyana and he immediately contacted the US Embassy in Guyana. Sources had indicated that the upper echelons of the army had also received a copy of the indictment but kept it under wraps and Clarke was allowed to voluntarily leave the country and travel to the US where he surrendered.
It is believed that even though Khan had already been indicted by then, most of the information subsequently provided by the US government was availed by the former army officer.