Nigel Hughes, attorney for the woman who has accused Police Commissioner Henry Greene of sexually assaulting her, yesterday said that he has received information that Jamaica will be assisting local police with the investigation.
Hughes, during a brief telephone interview with Stabroek News, said that intelligence gathering suggests that investigators will be brought in from the Caribbean island but he could not say when. Asked whether this would be a plus to the investigation, he said that it depends on who is being sent.
He also pointed out that up to now, the results of DNA samples taken in connection with the 2008 Lindo Creek massacre are yet to be returned from a police lab in Jamaica.
President Donald Ramotar in an interview with the Government Information Agency (GINA) on Saturday had said that he would ask the Ministry of Home Affairs to seek external assistance to carry out the investigation in order to expedite it and so that justice can be done.
There have been concerns about the ability of members of the Guyana Police Force to conduct an investigation without interference.
Hughes yesterday said that he is yet to get an update from local police on the status of the investigation.
The lawyer noted that sometime last week, his client, in the company of the police, identified the place where the alleged incident occurred, who opened the gate, and the room where the alleged incident occurred, among other details.
Meanwhile, when contacted, Crime Chief Seelall Persaud said that he was unaware of Jamaica being contacted for help. Persaud noted that the Ministry of Home Affairs is dealing with that aspect of the case.
Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee, when contacted for comment, said that he was in a meeting and could not speak.
He requested to be contacted later and when this was done and he was asked if Jamaica would be assisting, he said “you can continue going along those lines.” Asked what he meant by that, he said “the same investigation that you have been doing.” He further said that he is not prepared to comment on anything pertaining to that at this point in time.
Greene sometime last week requested leave and this was granted by Ramotar, who appointed Assistant Commissioner Leroy Brummell to discharge the responsibilities of Commissioner pending the outcome of the investigation.
Last week, a 34-year old mother of two alleged that she was sexually abused by the Top Cop on the night of November 22, after she had sought his assistance in solving a police matter.
The woman, in the presence of Hughes, told reporters that after the incident Greene warned her against telling anyone or visiting a medical institution or doctor in connection with the matter.
She said that he had been calling her for several days from a mobile number, which she provided as 699-0870.
She said that Greene wrote the number at the back of his card and told her that only government officials knew the number.
The woman said that several days after the incident, another senior police officer called her phone and requested that she meet with a senior government functionary at the Office of the President to discuss the issue but she declined. She said that the police officer told her that she should visit the government functionary alone “with no family or anybody.”
The allegations attracted calls by several groups for Greene to step down immediately so that a probe could be conducted.
