(Trinidad Express) The video and transcripts of Works Minister Jack Warner offering advice on “gifts” from former FIFA presidential hopeful, Qatari Mohamed bin Hammam, to Caribbean Football Union officials have been handed over to the Attorney General.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said yesterday she saw the video and read the transcripts and decided to hand the entire matter over to Attorney General Anand Ramlogan.
“I have referred the matter to the Attorney General to advise whether there is anything to be concerned about,” she said. Persad-Bissessar was speaking to reporters after the launch of the National Integrated Business Incubator System (IBIS) at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Port of Spain yesterday.
Warner demitted office as vice president of FIFA over the investigations into the allegations of bribery back in June.
Persad-Bissessar said despite the investigations, Warner attended yesterday’s Cabinet meeting.
When asked if Warner still has her full support, the Prime Minister said: “I am awaiting the comments from the Attorney General”.
Warner was said to be on his way to Mayaro yesterday afternoon and was unavailable for comment.
In a brief telephone interview yesterday, Ramlogan said he did not want to say anything on the matter just yet. He would only confirm that he was asked to look into the matter and he was doing so.
In the interpretation of the video published by British newspaper The Telegraph which was published on Wednesday, Warner appears to be recorded telling other members of the CFU that they must decide whether to accept the “gifts” of $40,000 (£25,000) each, and urging them to vote for bin Hammam rather than current president Sepp Blatter in the Fifa presidential elections.
The recording was made on May 11, the day after bin Hammam is alleged to have offered the money in individual brown envelopes, and is being used as evidence at a Fifa hearing this week in which 16 officials from the Caribbean Football Union are accused of violating Fifa’s code of ethics.
The 16 officials facing investigation this week have each been given the footage of the tape.
On the tape, Warner begins the meeting by asking: “Is there media here?” On being told there are no journalists present, he explains the detail behind bin Hammam’s “gifts” but stresses they should not be seen by the outside world to have come from bin Hammam.
Persad-Bissessar also commended former head of the Integrity Commission, Dr Eric St Cyr, on his decision to resign.
“I think he did the right thing and no further on it,” she said, barring any other questions on the matter yesterday.
She said no one has been tipped to replace St Cyr just yet, adding that the President had to consult with her and the Opposition Leader before a decision is made.
“That has not yet taken place so it would not be appropriate for me to speak on it,” she said.
The Prime Minister denied any political interference in the Commissioner of Police’s decision not to grant the People’s National Movement application to hold a public meeting today.
She said the Government’s activities have been curtailed by the State of Emergency restrictions too and advised the PNM to hold an indoor meeting.
“Most certainly we (Government) have not been holding any public meetings, you could meet, we have met at our headquarters. You can have indoor meetings, not public meetings,” she said.
