Transparency Institute Guyana Inc (TIGI) had joined calls for the resignation or removal of Attorney-General (AG) Anil Nandlall over the contents of a recorded conversation which includes what has been interpreted as threats against the Kaieteur News even as the International Press Institute (IPI) has urged the government to make it clear that violence against the press will not be tolerated.
“The safety of journalists is an extremely serious matter and we are deeply troubled by the alleged contents of this recording,” IPI Press Freedom Manager Barbara Trionfi said in a statement. “Insofar as these comments risk giving the impression that violence is an appropriate response to unfavourable media coverage, such statements have an impact far beyond the individual newspaper in question: they place all of Guyana’s journalists in danger,” she added.
“The Government of Guyana should focus now on making it clear that violence against the press will not be tolerated, and on reassuring the international community that it takes its responsibility to protect Kaieteur News staff and all other media practitioners in the country seriously,” Trionfi stressed.
The circulation of the recording of a damning conversation in which a voice said to be the AG’s is heard intimating that the use of violence against the Kaieteur News was acceptable, has prompted calls for his resignation by the parliamentary opposition as well as the Guyana Bar Association and the Guyana Women Lawyers’ Association and the Guyana Human Rights Association. Mention of the misuse of public funds and the intimation that President Donald Ramotar participated in conversations with Bhena Lall in an ongoing criminal matter in return for less critical reporting by her co-defendant husband, Glenn Lall, have also generated concern.
However, Ramotar and his Cabinet have stood by Nandlall, while saying the legality of the recording and not its content should be the main issue. Nandlall had also said that the Kaieteur News acted illegally in recording his telephone conversation with one of its staff and making it public.
On Saturday, TIGI, in a statement said that it supports the position taken by the GHRA, the GBA, the GAWL and the Guyana Press Association and “unequivocally” calls for the resignation or removal from public office of Nandlall. It also called for an independent investigation.
“The contents of the recorded telephone conversation between the AG and a senior journalist are as shocking as they are revealing. That conversation has thrown up a deeply disturbing array of issues that concern at a minimum, unethical behaviour and integrity in public office, and at worst, multiple illegalities on the part of the Attorney General and the government,” the transparency organization asserted.
“In his vulgar tirade, the AG displayed an appalling disregard for the administration of justice, women, journalists, freedom of the press and the rule of law. His revelations of personal financial impropriety and tacit approbation of impending extra-judicial sanction against the government’s perceived opponents bring the legal profession as a whole, of which he is the supposed leader, to an unprecedented low,” the organization said.
“It is yet another blow to a justice system that has facilitated, under the current administration, impunity for high-ranking officials, and even the appointment of an appellate judge while under investigation in another country. But even by these low standards, Nandlall’s conduct has brought his office into disrepute and he should immediately resign,” TIGI declared.
The NGO said that in the interest of transparency and accountability, the Government of Guyana should make public, information on how much money was borrowed by the AG from public funds, by what legal mechanism this facility exists, and what category of persons are entitled.
“This scandal once again underscores the need for transparency and accountability in government and the urgent need for a functioning Integrity Commission with independent and impartial Commissioners. In fact, given the AG’s boast that he retired from private practice at age 38 as a result of his accumulation of wealth, TIGI hopes that both the Guyana Revenue Authority and the Integrity Commission’s Secretariat are in possession of appropriate and accurate returns and declarations that reflect the AG’s incomes and assets,” the NGO asserted.
The statement noted that TIGI from its inception has consistently promoted the principle that public officials in positions of trust must be held accountable.
“Government and Ministers are subject to the rule of law, which requires that the criminal law of the land be applied to all. The AG’s admissions and apparent knowledge of planned criminal activity require independent investigation, which should not be covered up because of his office,” the organization asserted.
For these reasons TIGI urges the government to abandon its hasty defence of the AG on the basis of non-existent privacy laws, and instead ensure that his revelations of financial impropriety and other abuses of his office are immediately investigated and prosecuted if necessary. In this regard, it said that the government would do well to remember the UK Privy Council’s caution that the ‘maintenance of public confidence in the administration of justice requires that it be, and be seen to be, even-handed,’ TIGI declared.
