Attorney at law Nigel Hughes today responded to a series of allegations levelled against him by the PPP in connection with the recent Lusignan massacre trial.
His statement follows:
The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) has issued several public statements relating the issue of my relationship with the Foreman of the jury in the Luisignan murder trial.
In these releases they have made particular appeal to the victims of the Lusignan massacre contending that I have been responsible for the release and discharge of those persons who were responsible for the mass murders.
I had previously restrained myself from making any public statement on the issue as the Director of Public Prosecutions has appealed the acquittals and has made the issue of my prior representation of the foreman a central issue in the matter.
In normal circumstances and in countries which pay some regard to the issue of no public comment on matters which are sub judice, comment by those who hold offices of significant legal responsibility and the publication of their comments on matters which are sub judice, are avoided and frowned on.
However in Guyana that appears not to be the case.
I will merely make reference to matters which are already in the public domain which seem to have been overlooked although I have raised them before.
The people of Luisignan and Guyana appear not to have been made aware that the person who (allegedly) admitted and confessed to being with Fineman and participating in the Luisignan, Bartica and Lindo Creek massacres, Mr Dwane Wiliams, was not and will not be prosecuted by the State for any of these 33 murders he (allegedly) participated in. He has been granted a free pass by the State for (allegedly) killing not only the people of Lusiganan but those in Bartica and Lindo Creek.
These are his chilling words made under oath during his testimony in the Lusignan trial.
“ME AND FINE MAN WERE TIGHT. I WAS WITH HIM IN LUISIGNAN, BARTICA AND LINDO CREEK. LUSIGNAN 11 PEOPLE WERE KILLED, BARTICA 12 PEOPLE WERE KILLED AND LINDO CREEK 10 PEOPLE WERE KILL 33 PEOPLE WERE KILLED WHEN I WAS WITH FINE MAN AND I AM NOT FACING A SINGLE CHARGE.”
These words were recorded by the Trial Judge Mr. Justice Navindra Singh and are contained in the appeal record, a public document at pages 256 to 257. Copies of this extract from his testimony are attached.
He was the State’s sole eye witness who was jointly charged for the Lusiganan murders.
A mere week before the commencement of the Luisignan Trial Mr. Williams had the charges of murder against him mysteriously dropped by the State and he was released.
Perhaps the people of Lusignan may wish to inquire of the Attorney General and the DPP, why the State, which is responsible for protecting and serving them, would let a self confessed murderer of 33 citizens go free without a single charge. No other person in the history of this country has enjoyed such a pardon.
The foreman of the jury who I represented in a civil action which was concluded in 2008, was a member of the People’s Progressive Party and was represented by the current Attorney General in 2011 in an action in which I appeared against him (the Foreman).
The same foreman, as part of his party duties in 2012 participated in a public picketing exercise against me at the Supreme Court during the hearings of the Linden Commission of Inquiry. He was there along with senior members of the PPP. A copy of the photograph of the foreman on the PPP picket line is attached for your benefit.
At the time of the Luisignan Trial any relationship which existed between the foreman and myself could best be described as hostile. There was nothing to disclose.
Is the PPP saying that I should have disclosed that the Foreman was a PPP member, that he had been represented by the Attorney General two years immediately prior to the trial when I appeared against him in the same case?
Is this the non disclosure they are speaking about?
The hearing of the appeal by the DPP in the Lusignan Trial was fixed for hearing last week in the Court of Appeal but was postponed as a result of unrelated issues facing the Court.
The editorial in Chronicle, Saturday 15 February 2014 page makes several libelous allegations against me. These will be dealt with by my legal advisors in due course.
Among the allegations made, is the contention that I received a huge payment from the families of the victims of the Linden shooting in 2012 as legal or other fees.
From the outset I made it clear to the people of Linden that my services were given to them pro bono without any conditions.
Not a single cent was asked for or received from any victim by me or my firm.
I personally expended in excess of USD25,000.00 financing the professional services, travel and accommodation of the pathologist Professor Hubert Daisley from Trinidad and the ballistic expert Dr. Mark Robinson from the UK.
The cost of travel for the family members of the deceased to travel to Georgetown along with their overnight accommodation in Georgetown when they attended the post mortem examination were also donated by me.
This information is released purely for record keeping purposes in response to the claims in the editorial.
C.A. NIGEL HUGHES
Attorney-at-Law