The PNCR says the disclosure by the media of an article in the Barbados Advocate newspaper dated June 30th 1980 in which Sir Richard Cheltenham paid tribute to Dr Walter Rodney will raise questions about his impartiality as he is now the Head of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the historian’s death.
In a statement on Wednesday, the PNCR, which is boycotting the CoI, said the disclosure is “cause for grave alarm concerning the impartiality of the Chairman of the Commission of Inquiry into the death of Dr. Walter Rodney. It is clear from the report in the Advocate News, that Sir Richard Cheltenham not only knew Dr. Walter Rodney, but was an admirer and was inspired by him”.
On Tuesday, when Stabroek News asked Sir Richard about the report he said no inference of bias should be drawn from this as the two did not share a close relationship.
When told of the article, dated June 30, 1980 and which was published in the Barbados Advocate, he said that it was brought