The Ministry of the Presidency (MOTP) yesterday said that President David Granger has not interfered and will not interfere in any probe by the police or army of the Carifesta Avenue fatal crash but former Attorney General Anil Nandlall yesterday maintained that the President’s statements amount to meddling with the inquiry process.
In an interview with Stabroek News on Sunday, Nandlall accused the President of “unlawful interference” by virtue of his statements on the question of a full inquiry into the December 30 intelligence operation which left three people dead after the car driven by Guyana Defence Force (GDF) investigator Robert Pyle crashed into another one.
Yesterday, the MOTP issued a statement condemning Nandlall’s remarks contained in the Stabroek News report. The ministry said that his remarks were a “deliberate and iniquitous attempt to misconstrue President David Granger’s comments and thereby, mislead the public.”
MOTP said that at no point has the Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces interfered in either the conduct of the operation in question, which it said was led by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), nor the investigations following the regretted loss of three lives. The MOTP noted that Granger, in response to questions from reporters, who were at the ministry for the swearing in of Minister Valerie Adams-Patterson, said that while he was aware that there is an internal probe that will be conducted by the GDF, because of the death of Sergeant Pyle, a determination for the need for a wider investigation would be advised on by the Chief of Staff of the GDF.
MOTP said that responding to a question posed by News Source Journalist, Gordon Moseley, who asked, “Mr. President there is some concern, regarding the recent death of the GDF Officer on a special mission. Sir you are part of the Defence Board of course. Could you say whether or not there will be a move to have a full probe of the circumstances that may have led to his death,” President Granger replied that he does not “see that there is need for a probe at the present time but if after discussions with the Chief of Staff he feels such a probe is justified” then such a probe would be conducted.
MOTP said that while the President said that at this point he saw no need for a wider probe, he did not rule it out nor did he advise or instruct either the Guyana Police Force (GPF) or the GDF on how they should proceed.
MOTP said that during the same media encounter, the President went on to say that he is not involved in the operational use of the GPF or the GDF and these responsibilities are vested in the Commissioner of Police by the Police Act and the Chief of Staff by the Defence Act, respectively.
“No politician gets involved in giving directives; operational directives to the Chief of Staff or to the Commissioner [of Police],” Granger had said, according to the MOTP.
The President did not say at any time that there will be no investigation, MOTP reiterated.
“The Ministry also finds the publishing of Nandlall’s comments by Stabroek News as unfortunate, as the President’s quoted comments never amounted to the content of his accusations, particularly since no effort was made to seek a response from the Head of State by the newspaper, thereby abrogating his right of reply”, MOTP said.
Nandlall in a subsequent statement maintained that a slew of statements made by Granger on the question of a whether a full probe would be done did amount to interference.
Mandatory
In his statement responding to the MOTP, Nandlall said his contention in the interview with SN on Sunday was to establish that no member of the Executive, inclusive of the President, has any authority to determine which matters should or should not be investigated by the Guyana Police Force. He noted that the incident under review resulted in the death of three citizens, including a member of the GDF and in these circumstances, a police investigation is mandatory.
Nandlall then cited a series of statements Granger was reported to have made.
He referenced the 7th of January, 2016 SN report with the headline “Granger: no need for full probe of operation that claimed three lives – relatives of Brassington, Ramson Jr said to be traumatized”.
Nandlall noted that in the body of the report the President said “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”.
The former AG said that similar statements were reported in the Kaieteur News and the Guyana Chronicle around the same period.
A Guyana Chronicle article carrying the same story under the sub-heading “Internal Probe” contains the following statement “he (the President) said the death of any member of the GDF results in an internal probe which if not carried out would be advisable. However, there is no need for a probe to be executed or stretched beyond an internal one since the sergeant was part of a legitimate operation”.
Nandlall argued that the very statements made by Granger amount to the giving of directives.
“It seems to have escaped the attention of the Ministry of Presidency that apart from an army officer, two civilians also lost their lives and the operation from which the loss of lives resulted was a civilian operation and not a military one and therefore whatever course of action the Chief of Staff has planned, it has nothing to do with the Police’s duty to carry out its mandatory obligations under the Police Act to launch an investigation. However, when the Commander in Chief sends out a particular signal, the Police Force appears to have collapsed into a paralysis and no investigation seemed to have commenced. The overwhelming public perception is that the President has shut down any investigation into this incident. As a result, members of the public continue to agitate for a full investigation”, Nandlall’s statement read.
He pointed out that the Guyana Bar Association (GBA) also believes that Granger has erred and that it has issued a call for a full inquiry into this matter. He noted that in their statement, the GBA wrote “President Granger has announced that he does not consider that a full probe is necessary because a member of the Guyana Defence Force was on an “official mission”. With due respect to the President, the Bar Association fundamentally disagrees with such a position”.
Nandlall asserted that a more prudent course would have been for the Ministry of the Presidency to make it clear that a full and thorough probe into the incident by the Guyana Police Force is expected.
