Dear Editor,
I am sick, shocked, dazed and flabbergasted at the brutal killing of Senior Counsel Dana Seetahal. Her ability, integrity and skill as an Attorney-at-Law and Lecturer are unimaginable and inexplicable. I had a close relationship with her and we spent many occasions socializing at her then home with Mr. Doodnauth Singh, Senior Counsel and former Attorney General of Guyana, who then owned an apartment next to Dana’s.
What a lawless society we have become! Throughout my career as an Attorney-at-Law on numerous occasions I knew that my life was in danger. This is the risk and price sometimes in the quest for Justice.
However, because of the lack of will and commitment by Governments and law enforcement authorities many, many criminals feel they can kill at will and get away with impunity.
For example I went to Guyana and found one of the two fellows who killed my daughter Nikita. He is living a normal life on a main road in Guyana and everyone is aware of his whereabouts. I went to view him from a distance and where he was living. The guy who went with me was nearly chopped and killed by this criminal. We reported this to the police in Guyana. The police response was “why you didn’t shoot him”. The guy who went with me has a licenced firearm. I had asked him not to take his firearm with him because I suspected violence. Imagine the police in Guyana and in Trinidad know this criminal killed my daughter but they will not arrest him saying they want to get the accused number one (1) first or are awaiting to find accused number one (1) first before arresting accused number two (2).
What nonsense? Anyone who wants to know more of this especially the press feel free to contact me. I may hold a press conference to let the whole world know about this sloppy police work. It is this attitude that gives licence to criminals to kill people as they please.
Now, what is going to happen to Justice in Trinidad and Tobago? All Attorneys-at-Law should strike, stop attending Court, bring the Justice system to a halt and the authorities to their knees and senses. Imagine the civil litigation scandal in the prisons in Trinidad is to be investigated by the Attorney General. What nonsense! All types of corruption must be investigated and exposed from top to the lowest level. Law and Order will only be maintained when every crime – big or small – is reported, investigated by the police, action taken and appropriate penalties imposed.
My condolences to Dana’s siblings, families, relatives and friends. What a great icon and jurist we have lost. What a shame and disgrace! I am angry and feel helpless. How can we work? Heaven help us. We are a lost nation, a failed state and are headless chickens. God put a hand.
Yours faithfully,
Odai N.S. Ramischand
Attorney-at-Law
