Charles to DPP: Act on Emailgate

Naparima MP Rodney Charles is calling on the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to act expeditiously on emailgate and on Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to apologise if the police are correct in their findings.

Based on a statement by acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams that the police had completed investigations on emailgate and “nothing of substance was found”, MP Charles called on the DPP to immediately conclude its determination on the matter, advise if necessary on culpability and clarify the way forward.

This is a matter that cannot be subject to the usual “Trini” penchant for inaction in the hope that the issue will go away. It will not. He is also calling on Dr Rowley, if the acting COP is correct, to admit that at the very least he acted recklessly, and at worst he vindictively misled Parliament and the people of TT for political gain. He is also calling on Dr Rowley, if the acting COP is correct, to repent, seek forgiveness and publicly apologise to all whose characters he unnecessarily impugned by his reckless comments made under cover of parliamentary privilege. High on the list of those in need of a public apology is former PM and Member for Siparia, Kamla Persad-Bissessar whom he accused among other things of conspiring to murder a journalist.

The apology should be followed by Rowley doing the honorable thing and calling fresh elections. They ran the PNM campaign on the strength of these allegations that have now proven to be false. Williams said yesterday that the police had “pronounced on what had transpired in relation to the investigation”, adding that, “nothing of substance came out of that long drawn out investigation but closure will be guided by the office of the DPP.” If the Office of the DPP, Charles said, does not now act with utmost expedition, then it leaves this important branch of the judiciary open to accusations by those with suspicious minds that its inaction is politically motivated to protect the PNM in general and Dr Rowley in particular. According to MP Charles, whatever decision is taken by the DPP on emailgate must be governed by evidence and evidence alone.