Former Attorney General (AG) Anil Nandlall yesterday slammed President David Granger for his statement that there is no need for a full probe into the Carifesta Avenue accident that claimed three lives, labelling it “unlawful” interference which sets a bad precedent of the Executive crossing boundaries.
“No member of the Executive including the president has the authority to determine in what instances the police force should or should not investigate,” Nandlall told Stabroek News. “The investigation and detection of incidents or allegations in order to determine whether a criminal offence has occurred is a matter that is purely and exclusively under the Police Act,” he said.
Granger last week told reporters that he did not think the crash, a result of a botched intelligence operation that resulted in the deaths of Guyana Defence Force (GDF) intelligence officer Sergeant Robert Pyle, his wife Stacy Pyle and canter driver Linden Eastman, needed a full probe.
It has since been revealed that Pyle was at the time chasing a vehicle he believed was occupied by relatives of the Head of NICIL Winston Brassington. Pyle was mistaken as the passengers in the vehicle were relatives of PPP/C MP Charles Ramson Jr. Pyle had been part of an operation being conducted by the Special Organized Crime Unit.
“I don’t think it requires a full probe because Sergeant Pyle was on an official mission at the time and it was quite an unfortunate accident in which three persons died so we certainly regret the loss of life but I don’t see there is need for a probe at the present time,” Granger told reporters.
The president was asked specifically if moves are being made for a full probe but said that the Chief of Staff of the GDF has examined the information. “Once a soldier dies he (the Chief of Staff) will conduct an internal probe and I do believe it is adequate, I don’t know if that has been done. If it has not been done I will certainly ask that that be done but I don’t think it needs to go wider than that,” he said.
Nandlall told Stabroek News that the president’s comments should be worrying to the nation. “A few days ago the nation was confronted with the astonishing statements attributed to His Excellency the president that there will be no investigation into the highly publicised and controversial high speed vehicular chase which resulted in the death of three persons…where deaths occurs, or in this instance multiple deaths, the mandatory obligation of the Police Force to investigate is even more overwhelming”, he stressed.
Additionally, the former AG pointed out that under the Coroners Act, the coroner of a magisterial district in which an unnatural death occurs, has a mandatory obligation to hold an inquest or an inquiry into that death.
“Again, the Executive inclusive of the president has no authority to interfere with this process either because to do so would amount to perverting or obstructing the course of justice which is another serious criminal offence. While I concede that the president is personally immune from criminal and civil suits for his actions, those actions are nevertheless reviewable in a court of law if the appropriate proceedings are filed. In my view, the president’s interference in this instance is not only unlawful but it strikes at the heart of the rule of law and the criminal justice system,” Nandlall declared.
Nandlall said he believes that Granger is essentially immunizing persons from investigations and possible prosecutions by his actions.
“Today, it is a GDF officer, tomorrow it may be a party functionary or a party supporter or a relative of a member of the Executive. Unless this is nipped in the bud, it can lead to a whole class of persons becoming immune from investigation and prosecution and thereby making them above the law,” he posited.
The former AG said Granger’s action was also quite contradictory as the current AG Basil Williams has said that the Coroners Act must be urgently amended in order to expedite the hearing of inquests into deaths which occurred years ago as per request of the president.
“He says that the president wants this to be done and the same president is shutting investigations into an incident in which three deaths have occurred which took place merely days ago. I cannot gainsay the quality of legal advice which the president is receiving but I will be bold to say that he is committing certain actions which undermines the administration of justice and indeed this entire legal system,” the former AG stressed.
“At one end of the process, he is curtailing investigations from taking place into incidents that appear to be in violation of the criminal law and at the other end of the process, he is pardoning convicted criminals without any known process and principles. So in essence by his actions, one can argue that persons are prevented from being charged and those who are charged and convicted are freed by the president by way of pardon,” Nandlall declared.
He said critics of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) would have come down on his government if former President Donald Ramotar when in office, had made Granger’s statements. He asserted that the public needs to be impartial when defending the current government on serious issues.
