(Trinidad Express) Telephone records show that National Security Minister Gary Griffith contacted Police Complaints Authority (PCA) director David West on December 19, 2014.
During that conversation the Express learned that Griffith told West he was asked to find out if he (West) had “pulled back a document”.
Griffith was apparently unaware that the document was a witness statement until being told so by West, sources said.
West told Griffith the document was filed in the High Court and he was not going to withdraw it.
The Express learned that Cabinet colleagues have attempted to persuade Griffith to deny the conversation he had with West.
Griffith has refused, insisting that he was “almost set up” by being made to call West.
Griffith’s call to West was made on December 19—the same day West filed his witness statement in the Hall of Justice.
Telephone records show that three days before, on December 16, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan attempted to contact West twice but the calls went unanswered.
Express investigations have revealed that Ramlogan telephoned West after midday on October 31, 2014.
This call to West was the second telephone call registered on his cellphone, from Ramlogan, on the same day (October 31).
Ramlogan had telephoned West earlier on the morning of October 31 informing him that he was tipped to head the PCA following the resignation of then director, attorney Gillian Lucky, who accepted a judgeship in September last year.
However, at the time the second telephone call was made, the Office of the President had already contacted West on the same day (October 31) scheduling a meeting with him on November 3 regarding his appointment as PCA head.
Immediately following the telephone conversation with Ramlogan, West sought legal advice on the alleged request for the witness statement to be withdrawn in the defamation matter,
The defamation lawsuit stemmed from statements Ramlogan claimed Rowley made during a news conference on November 8, 2011, relating to Justice Ronnie Boodoosingh’s ruling in which he quashed the Attorney General’s decision to order the extradition of Steve Ferguson and Ish Galbaransingh arising out of the Piarco Airport enquiry.
West, who formerly headed the Central Authority Unit that falls under the purview of the office of the Attorney General, was appointed PCA head on November 7, 2014.
Griffith is a witness in the criminal police probe against Ramlogan who is being investigated by police over an allegation that six days before West was appointed PCA director, he was telephoned by Ramlogan and asked to withdraw a witness statement in the Section 34 defamation lawsuit filed against Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley in exchange for the job.
Ramlogan has denied the allegation.
Griffith said on Friday he is not afraid of being fired from the Ca (Cabinet?)
“I did nothing wrong. I have no reason to lie. I have taken a stance on principle and I am not afraid of the consequences. I got this job on principle, principle is what got me here and principle is what will keep me here,” Griffith told the Express.
Griffith is listed as a witness in West’s statement that was submitted to acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams on Thursday on the allegations that were first exposed exclusively in the Sunday Express this week. West provided an account of the telephone conversations to Williams.
When Griffith was questioned about him being a witness for West on Thursday, he stated, “I will tell the truth about what transpired between Mr West and Mr Ramlogan. I will not shift the goalpost for anyone just as I did for the LifeSport investigation.”
