…Police OPR launches investigation
The Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) is now under fire after it arrested Attorney at Law Tamieka Clarke for reportedly advising her client to remain silent.
The move has sparked condemnation from the legal fraternity with the Guyana Bar Association calling for an immediate investigation into the incident.
Clarke is attached to the law firm of Shaun Allicock but was previously attached to the Director of Public Prosecutions’ Chambers.
Article 144 (7) of Guyana’s Constitution states “No person who is tried for a criminal offence shall be compelled to give evidence at the trial.”
At a press conference yesterday, Clarke said that her client had been arrested on Friday last on computer fraud-related charges. However, he was released on his own recognizance and instructed to return to SOCU’s Camp Street headquarters on Tuesday afternoon. Clarke accompanied her client to SOCU on Tuesday where they encountered Superintendent Krishnadat Ramanah – who is in charge of the investigation – and he advised that they return on Thursday at 1 pm since they were not ready for a statement at the time.
“I told Superintendant Ramanah we can come back on Thursday at 1 pm, no problem, but my client has been advised and he will not be giving a statement. [I said] my client chooses to remain silent. Ramanah told me ‘do you know what is obstruction, under rule one your client is compellable’. So I told him that my client was arrested, he’s a suspect, he was released and he’s told to report that he has been advised to remain silent. Ramanah told me you and your client are going to come back on Thursday at 1 pm and if your client does not give a statement on Thursday at 1 pm, I will arrest you,” Clarke related.
She said that she further questioned the officer who stated “…counsel, all I can advise you is that counsel will need counsel.”
Clarke said that she returned with her client to SOCU on Thursday and the meeting was initially rescheduled to 2 pm. They were later informed that Ramanah will be busy for at least two hours and were advised to return at 9 am on Friday.
“So my client arrived a few minutes before me on Friday this morning. So when I arrived, my client came up and we spoke. My client told me while he was there they [SOCU] had a statement there already and was asking him to read it and sign it,” the lawyer informed.
She said at that point, her client had adhered to the advice and refused to sign the statement. The former Public Prosecutor told reporters that she then approached an Officer Duke and informed him that no statement would be given. At that point, Duke instructed them to wait on Ramanah who was in a meeting at the time.
Clarke said that her client then asked if he could leave since he needed to work and that was communicated to the officers who indicated that her client could not leave without signing the statement. At that point, an Officer Singh contacted Ramanah who came out and ordered her arrest.
“He [Ramanah] entered the room with the officers [and] my client and I were outside of the room. He told the officers ‘is she preventing her client from giving a statement, is she preventing her client from giving a statement? Speak up, y’all tell me, is she preventing her client from giving a statement, arrest her.’ So he told her an officer whose name I don’t know at this time, arrest me for obstruction,” Clarke related.
She said that Ramanah instructed her to follow the male officer upstairs into a room while her client was ordered into another room to “give a statement.” The lawyer said that while in the room, she was relieved of her cell phone after which another officer advised that the female rank, stationed at the gate, be brought in to execute the arrest.
During the encounter, Clarke said that she attempted to leave the room but was prevented from doing so by a male officer. When the female rank came into the room, she also prevented the attorney from leaving and demanded that she hand over her watch.
Clarke remained silent until her attorneys came. The attorney also indicated that legal proceedings will be filed in court in the coming week.
Nasty assault on the rule of law
Clarke’s attorney Nigel Hughes said that the entire incident is a “real dirty, nasty assault on the rule of law” and should have never happened.
He explained that when he got to SOCU headquarters, he contacted President of the Bar Association Pauline Chase and formally notified her that a practising member of the Guyana Bar had been arrested in the execution of their duties by providing a client with advice. He reminded that the constitution guarantees every citizen the right to remain silent if they are a suspect or a target of an investigation.
He said that the only information Clarke’s client was compelled to present to SOCU was his name and address. Hughes also said that it is deeply troubling that SOCU had warned Clarke that they would arrest her if she continued to provide her client with advice to remain silent.
“This is an issue where every attorney in this country, including the Attorney General when he’s in private practice, is entitled to go to the station and advise their client that they have the right to remain silent if they’re a suspect. They have done that.
“This is particularly disturbing for this reason, the rule of law and the enforcement of the law which the judiciary is tasked with to protect the citizen from the might and power of the state is under threat for this reason. If you are the subject of an investigation and you have protected constitutional rights and the law enforcement agencies say to you that we will not only ignore, but we will intentionally disregard those rights and put your counsel’s liberty in jeopardy for giving you advice that is constitutionally correct, it means the rule of law has been vacated. It means that the law which protects all of us by conferring us certain rights is vacated by the persons who are charged with the responsibility of enforcing it,” Hughes posited.
He said that Clarke was also denied legal representation for over 20 minutes and they were only able to speak to her after the local and international media were called in. He added that a subsequent call was made for the release of Clarke.
Speaking about the impending legal proceedings against SOCU, Hughes said that it will be filed by next week. He said that every encroachment on the rights of citizens by the state needs to be condemned by the decision of the court in the strongest possible manner.
“So we will not only be commencing proceedings for her false imprisonment, we will be seeking exemplary damages so that the court can register to the state its disapproval of this sort of action…the intention here is that every time a lawyer goes to a police station with a client and they say to the client, remain silent then the law enforcement agency will lock up the client and the lawyer. That is the consequence of this. That’s why this has to be vindicated by the court and we will see if the judiciary has a view that is as strong as those of us in the Bar who think that this is an absolute outrage,” he said.
He added “this is a matter that has to be defined by the court so that we know exactly what the position is with people’s protected constitutional rights…this is a real, dirty, nasty assault on the rule of law.”
Full investigation
Meanwhile, the Bar Associa-tion reminded that the rule of law and the fundamental right to counsel are stated to be hallmarks of a democratic society, adding that the actions of SOCU sought to destroy those foundations of democracy.
In a statement, the Bar Association said that it “unreservedly and unequivocally condemns the actions of the Guyana Police Force. Such action is disturbing, perverse, unlawful, oppressive and wholly unacceptable.”
It called on the Commissioner of Police to forthwith issue an apology to Clarke; compensate her for her unlawful imprisonment; launch a full investigation into the matter with such necessary disciplinary action enforced swiftly including charges being laid against the offending officer(s), there being no lawful grounds for the arrest; and disciplinary action including termination of any officer(s) who were aware of and allowed this type conduct.
“We understand that through the intervention of Counsel, Ms Clarke has since been released. The Bar Association inclusive of its Criminal Bar Committee do not take this matter lightly and will take all necessary steps to ensure that our members can exercise their professional duties without intimidation and that the Rule of Law is upheld,” the statement read.
In a brief statement, the Guyana Police Force’s Corporate Communications Unit said that the Office of Professional Responsibility has been instructed to launch an investigation into the incident.
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, in a video statement, said that he received a call from attorney at law Allicock informing him of the incident. Nandall said that he enquired about the reasoning behind the detention after which he called the head of SOCU Senior Superintendent Fazil Karimbaksh.
“…in my capacity as the constitutional legal advisor to the Police Force I called Mr Karimbaksh and enquired of the circumstances of the alleged detention of Ms Tamieka Clarke and he offered an explanation. In that explanation, of course, he confirmed that Ms Clarke was being detained. I advised Mr Karimbaksh to immediately release Ms Clarke from Police custody,” he said.
Nandlall said he contacted Ramanah and advised that Clarke ought to be released immediately. He added that he also spoke with Clarke and informed her of the intervention and offered his apologies as a colleague of the Bar.
The Guyana Association of Women Lawyers (GAWL) also joined in condemning the detention of Clarke. It said that SOCU sought to intimidate and prevent Clarke from executing her duties to her client.
“At no time should an Attorney-at-Law be fearful of executing his/her duties. An Attorney-at-Law has the legal right and responsibility to offer legal counsel to their client. One such responsibility is to remind the client that he/she cannot be compelled to give evidence in a criminal matter, which is enshrined in Article 144(7) of the Constitution of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana.
“The Attorney-at-Law advising her client that he has a right to remain silent during an interview is not outside of the scope of the law. We call on the Commissioner of Police to issue an apology and cause an investigation to be promptly conducted into the actions of SOCU,” GAWL said in a statement.
The Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton has also condemned Clarke’s detention and has called for a proper investigation into the actions of the officers at SOCU.
