Dear Editor,
I wish to respond to your article in the Stabroek News dated 21st April 2011 captioned, `Canada refugee couple should have reported threats to police’.
Clement Rohee is attacking me unjustly. I never made any allegations against him, the police or anyone to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. All I did was to represent my client based on facts and information provided to me.
It was not my duty to carry out any investigations or report my client’s allegations as I am not a detective or investigator.
My duty as an Immigration Consultant was to present my client’s case to the Refugee Board and make representations on his behalf.
I cannot understand why Mr. Rohee is after me as I am not the person that made the allegations.
Clement Rohee’s statement is threatening and without any merit and he is trying to tarnish my character. It was a waste of time for my client to report anything that happened to the police because it was the Minister who is responsible for the police, Clement Rohee, who was the subject matter of the case. Which police would question Rohee, their boss?
We have seen in the past where the police just ignore the poor and powerless in this country where complaints are lodged against “big ones”, when a Minister’s son killed a poor student in a traffic accident, when a Minister pistol-whipped a young lad for drinking with one of his female friends, when the police failed to question the Minister of Health on the spy equipment issue etc.
I personally have no confidence in the police as I have witnessed their unprofessionalism and biasness when I was maliciously charged two years ago. The police just ignored all my written contracts and termination agreements with a few clients and told me they have orders from “higher up” to charge me. In that situation it was unethical and unprofessional for me to continue with those few cases.
When my office was attacked and robbed on 3rd July 2008 and my office was shot at with five bullets on the midnight of July 16, 2008, I reported the matter to the police and they said I staged the robbery and shot up.
That was when I was investigating the raping of a 14 year old girl who I successfully represented at the Refugee Board in Canada in August 2008.
I told the police that one of the bandits asked me many times, “ big man wha problem you gat with …” and on each occasion I replied that I had no problems with the person mentioned.
Mr. Rohee wants me to report to the police about my client’s allegations and is threatening me with words like “creating public mischief, a criminal offence in Guyana”.
I was the counsel for my client and my client made all his allegations outside the jurisdiction of Guyana, and it was my duty to give good representation to my client. Mr. Rohee and the police have no jurisdiction in Canada or with the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, an independent Tribunal.
The Refugee Board of Canada was convinced that my client was credible as he swore under oath to tell the truth. So what public mischief Rohee is talking about? Therefore, from his analogy all lawyers in Guyana should report to the police when they get their clients off on charges.
Mr. Rohee is saying I am a shady character. Is the kettle calling the pot black?
He tried to tarnish my character and said I am shady but the Canadian, U.S and U.K governments think otherwise.
At least I never had my U.S Visa revoked and I am entitled to practice Immigration Law in Canada in accordance with the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act of Canada.
Can Rohee tell the Guyanese nation why his U.S visa was revoked? The U.S does not revoke people’s visas unless there was some criminality or breach of immigration regulations. So Mr. Rohee, who is shady?
For your information Mr. Rohee, I was never charged for any offence in Guyana, Trinidad and Canada, not even for a traffic offence for the three countries that I lived in.
Except for the one and only trumped up charges laid against me in February 2009 and the magistrate dismissed two of those charges for want of prosecution. In this case the real culprit was never charged. Can you tell the Guyanese people why the real culprit was never charged Mr. Rohee?
Yours faithfully,
Balwant Persaud
