The Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions has condemned a news item in today’s Guyana Chronicle which stated in part that state prosecutors shun highly political cases.
A release from the DPP’s Chambers follows:
Pursuant to a published article titled, `State prosecutors shun ‘highly political cases’’ in the Guyana Chronicle on Friday November 4,2016 the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Mrs. Shalimar Ali-Hack herein states that the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions is governed by Article 187 of the Constitution of Guyana.
The DPP states that prosecutions will continue to be done fairly and impartially based solely on consideration of the evidence contained in the police file and the prevailing law.
Specifically, as it relates to the court matter involving former minister Jennifer Westford, the DPP herein informs that two lawyers from the DPP’s Chambers, Senior State Counsel Teshana Lake and State Counsel Natasha Backer are prosecuting this matter. Further, neither of these two state lawyers have expressed any discomfort in the execution of their duties in the said matter.
“The DPP, Mrs. Ali-Hack or any other lawyer in these Chambers have never indicated that they are uncomfortable in prosecuting any criminal matters, whether political or otherwise.”
The staff at the DPP’s Chambers examine the evidence in police files in relation to the prevailing law and advise charges accordingly; prosecutions are based on the evidence in the file and the law. This is so regardless of whom the accused persons are and the positions they hold.
Additionally, the present system is that lawyers at these Chambers appear in the High Court and all the Appellate Courts. There are not sufficient lawyers to appear in the Magistrates’ Courts; hence, four police prosecutors are assigned to these Chambers and appear in the more serious cases in the Magistrates’ Courts. To say that State Prosecutors shun highly political cases is defamatory.
