Police investigative methods compromised by Public hearings – Ramkarran

Assassination claim CoI

…internal investigation by external agency would have achieved ToR

Former Speaker of the National Assembly, Senior Counsel Ralph Ramkarran, has said the public hearing aspect of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the alleged plot to assassinate President David Granger has compromised the investigative methods of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), particularly those of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

“The Guyana Police Force, particularly the Criminal Investigation Department,

depends on confidentiality in relation to its methods and practices. Where these are exposed, it can compromise future investigations. Those with a criminal bent are certainly paying attention, to learn all they can about police methods,” Ramkarran said in a blog post.

Andrif Gillard, on March 29 last, lodged with the police a report that his neighbour Nizam Khan had offered him $7 million to kill President David Granger. President Granger, last June, launch a CoI into the alleged assassination plot, and named former Assistant Commissioner Paul Slowe as CoI Chairman.

The CoI seeks to: inquire into persons, places, times, circumstances and events by and through which allegations and reports came to be made of an intention to assassinate the President; investigate the full range of the actions and responses of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to the reports, and the extent to which such actions were conducted or executed with due diligence; determine whether any person, and in particular officers of the GPF, had information before and after reports were made of a plan to assassinate the President, and whether any such officers communicated that information to a superior authority.

Commissioners will also record and report on what official action was taken on the basis of the information received, and whether there was due diligence by the officers of the GPF in investigating the plan to assassinate the President; and determine whether there was failure, neglect or omission to thoroughly and properly investigate the plan to assassinate the President; and determine whether such failure or omission was intentional.

The Commissioners will also seek to determine the blameworthiness for the failure or neglect of officers or persons involved in the investigation, and recommend action to be taken against persons found to be blameworthy. Steps would also be recommended to prevent the recurrence of an incident of this sort; and if any systemic issues exist in the GPF’s competence to investigate matters of this nature, same would be identified.

The report was initially expected to be submitted to President Granger on August 18, but Commissioner Slowe announced last Friday that he had written the President requesting an extension to August 31, but is yet to receive an official response. Slowe said he is sure the extension would be granted.

Ramkarran said the ToR suggests that the investigators should be investigated with a view to determining whether there had been a dereliction of duty, or failure to properly investigate the matter. However, public inquiries undermine investigators in the public’s eye.

“An internal investigation by an external agency such as the CoI, utilising the same or similar procedures applicable to a public inquiry, might have served to elicit the same information while at the same time protecting the Police Force,” he wrote.

He added that the investigative methods being employed by the Police have been compromised and Police investigators have been publicly undermined, but he does not see the need to parade witnesses outside of the investigative team while revealing who are trained investigators, nor is it necessary to chastise them along with the Police Commissioner on ‘tangential issues.’

During the course of the public hearing, it was revealed that the now acting Police Commissioner David Ramnarine is not a trained investigator, nor has he received any training as an investigator. During his testimony, Ramnarine told the Commission he felt the investigation was not properly done due to the interference of senior Police ranks.

According to Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud’s attorney, Glen Hanoman, Ramnarine’s assessment of the investigation is not informed by experience, but springs from malice against his client and Crime Chief Wendell Blanum, since both men had reported his misconduct to the Office of Professional Responsibility.

It was also revealed that Persaud had made a call, instructing that his friend Imran Khan, brother of the alleged plot mastermind, be released on his own recognisance after he was held for disorderly behaviour. However, when Persaud testified, he denied giving an “instruction”, but said he rather had made a “suggestion”.

Ramkarran notes that Commissioner Persaud had given evidence to defend himself against the claims, adding that the allegations are in no way connected to the investigation or investigation quality.

“The public waits anxiously for the conclusion of the CoI as to whether the investigation was adequate or not; and if so, in what areas the Criminal Investigation and Operations Departments fell down. If such is the finding, the CoI might also wish to tell us what would have been achieved if the investigation had been more thorough, having regard to the evidence by and in relation to Andriff Gillard and the independent evidence that his story is false. Investigations such as these ruin careers. Let us hope that the Police Force and its able and dedicated officers survive unscathed. High though the crime rate, they are our first and last line of defence,” Ramkarran concluded.

The public hearing aspect of the CoI will continue on Wednesday, when Police Legal Adviser Justice Claudette Singh (ret’d) takes the stand to give evidence.