A week after a furore erupted over an explosive conversation he had with a Kaieteur News (KN) reporter, Attorney General Anil Nandlall yesterday said he was unaware of any planned violence against any newspaper or any reporter and he also assured women here of his “highest respect”.
Numerous calls for Nandlall’s resignation have greeted the release of the transcript by the KN proprietor Glenn Lall who last week Monday lodged a formal complaint with the police against the AG, citing fears for the newspaper and its staff. The 19-minute, expletive-laden conversation with Leonard Gildarie triggered concerns on a range of issues including whether Nandlall was aware of impending violence against KN, his revelations about the use by him of public funds and apparent negotiations between President Donald Ramotar and Lall’s wife, Bhena Lall over tax evasion charges.
Though the government had come out immediately in support of Nandlall without investigating the tape, sources say there has been mounting pressure on the Ramotar administration and the matter was addressed at yesterday’s Cabinet meeting. There is also the question of whether the police will interview Nandlall following the complaint lodged by Lall.
Nandlall’s clarifying “remarks” were made in a meeting with the professional staff of the Advice, Litigation and Drafting Departments and Members of the Senior Management of the Ministry of Legal Affairs. These remarks were then released by a public relations agency. Nandlall had previously declined to elaborate on the content of the conversation on the grounds that the matter was sub judice since he had filed a lawsuit against KN over the matter. His remarks yesterday were a departure from this position.
While in the remarks Nandlall maintains that there had been manipulation and distortion of the conversation, he made no effort yesterday to distinguish which of the statements were accurate and which might not be.
Describing the release of the conversation as an “unexpected betrayal”, the AG said that the public would have heard some most unfortunate remarks attributed to him. He said that the matter has caused him and his family great embarrassment, distress and pain.
“I am truly sorry that you, my political colleagues, and the general public had to endure this highly regrettably ordeal”, Nandlall said.
Addressing the gravamen of the conversation, Nandlall said “I wish to state clearly and unequivocally, that I am unaware of any planned violence or extra-judicial sanction against any individual journalist or any newspaper. Indeed, in my own case I have filed legal proceedings and have every confidence in our judicial system to conduct a fair and open hearing and to deliver justice at the end. Our government does not condone or promote violence in any form or at any level. As you all here in these chambers know, we have worked tirelessly to give leadership and guidance to the development of legislation that tackle violence in all forms and at every level including the protection of women and children from domestic violence.”
The section of the conversation which Lall complained to the police about had Nandlall saying: “Everybody doesn’t have a newspaper to use as a weapon”. He continued, “I told Adam [Adam Harris, KN editor], I said, ‘Adam, people got weapons, right. They ain’t got newspaper to use as a weapon; they got weapons. And when you continue to attack people like that and they have no way of responding they will just walk with they weapon into that same [expletive] Saffon Street office and wha’ come shall do.”
He then continued, “And innocent…” before changing course and adding, “Peter will have to pay for [expletive] Paul in that way. I tell you, honestly, man to man that will happen soon.” He further advised the reporter to “get out of deh,” the quicker, the better.
Classifying the conversation with Gildarie, who he had known from school days, as a private one and bantering, Nandlall also addressed widespread revulsion that he had tried to find out about a female KN reporter for a liaison with his uncle. On several occasions in the conversation, Nandlall tells Gildarie that his uncle wanted to have sex with the girl.
In his remarks yesterday, Nandlall said ”This aspect of the impugned recording has perhaps caused me the greatest personal distress. I have been judged harshly by both the general public and by women’s groups and activists. However, neither of these judgments has been as harsh as the judgments I have received from the women in my life, most notably my wife and my mother. I wish to assure all women in Guyana of my highest respect and to promise that I will continue to struggle for their rights and respect wherever there remain gaps in the treatment of women in our society.”
Nandlall, 38, and Guyana’s first Attorney General without senior counsel status also addressed statements in the conversation that he had unauthorisedly taken public funds and then repaid them.
“…the final issue I wish to clarify relates to a financial transaction to which reference was made in the impugned recording. This has been unfortunately interpreted to implicate me in some form of financial impropriety. I wish to set the record straight on that issue. The reference relates to the reimbursement I received for monies I expended on medical treatment. This reimbursement, was approved by Cabinet in a written Cabinet decision dated 20 June 2013. This is, and historically has been, an entitlement of every member of Cabinet long before my appointment”, the AG said.
Nandlall, who has been one of the key figures battling for the government in its present minority status particularly by filing court challenges, also addressed press freedom in his remarks.
He said “, I share the views and principles of the Government of Guyana, of which I am a part, with respect to freedom of the press. As stated elsewhere recently, our government has from the inception “recognized, embraced, cherished and actively promoted press freedom in all its forms and facets. … we regard press freedom as a fundamental freedom and right which is enshrined in the Constitution of Guyana. We view freedom of the press as the cornerstone of our democracy.”
“It is also my firm belief that while the State has the sacred responsibility for creating and nurturing an enabling environment for a Free Press, the Free Press has an equally sacred responsibility to the highest ethical standards as they operate in that free environment. The Guyanese public and I are equally victims of an unethical journalist and an unprincipled newspaper operating in a free environment.”
Following the release of the conversation, the Vienna, Austria-based International Press Institute had called on the Ramotar administration to provide assurances for the safety of KN and its staff.
Nandlall said that the conversation was recorded without his knowledge, manipulated, distorted and made public.
“As you are aware, I have filed legal proceedings. It is my hope that these proceedings will examine and determine the legality and authenticity of the recording as well as the liabilities, if any, which arise therefrom. Additionally, I have no doubt that the appropriate authorities would send the recording for proper forensic analysis”, he asserted.
He thanked his staff for their “continued tireless work in support of Guyana’s development. Our recent accomplishment of securing time for Guyana to meet its obligations under the CFATF and FATF is very significant and noteworthy”.
After the remarks, he also expressed thanks to the President and others.
“”I must thank his Excellency the President, my colleagues in Government, my comrades in my party and indeed, everyone who has stood by me during this period. I will continue to give my best in service to my people, my country and indeed, people everywhere.”
Aside from the political parties which have called for his resignation or sacking, Nandlall has also been hammered by the Guyana Bar Association (GBA) and the Guyana Association of Women Lawyers (GAWL) in a joint statement, the Guyana Human Rights Association (GHRA) and Transparency International Guyana Inc. (TIGI).
In their joint statement the GBA and the GAWL said “As leader of the Bar, the Attorney General mindful of the honour, dignity and integrity of his office should resign immediately. If he does not resign he should be removed. Any other result would be an endorsement of the Attorney-General’s conduct and an admission by the Executive that the highest moral and legal standards are not applicable to the State.”
The joint statement added “Everything done and said by the Attorney-General since the disclosure of the conversation invites us to draw every and all reasonable inferences therefrom. The statements made by the Attorney-General point to serious legal and moral infractions on his part having regard to his standing as one of the highest legal officers in our country. In the recording the Honorable Attorney-General offered in vulgar and obscene language, knowledge of actual and planned illegal activities. Even in private conversation the comments are deeply troubling and inappropriate and their candid nature, unbridled by the conventions of public discourse, calls his character and professionalism into question.”
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.
