Moonilal defies Rowley's legal threat

THE pre-action protocol letter from Dr Keith Rowley telling Dr Roodal Moonilal to "apologise, retract and shut up" over allegations of questionable financial transactions has had the opposite effect on the Oropouche East MP.

From fake oil to fake cheques, Moonilal is standing his ground, saying, “You will get no apology, you will get no retraction, no withdrawals.”

Moonilal promised the Prime Minister at the United National Congress (UNC) Monday night forum, in the Couva Multi Purpose Hall, that what he would get is "more information to put on your court documents.”

“I am a God-fearing man. I am afraid of no man,” he told supporters, telling them even before an investigation has begun, there have been eight "elements of truth" coming out of the claims he raised in the Parliament during his contribution to the budget debate.

Rowley said the allegations were “a monstrous lie” and through his attorney Michael Quamina has given Moonilal 14 days to apologise and retract the statement or face legal action.

On the political platform, Moonilal did not repeat the allegations, but referred to newspaper clippings which he said were in the public domain, and which identified the familial link between the prime minister and Junior Rawlinson Rowley and confirmation from the PM that they are cousins.

Moonilal said newspapers also confirmed the e-mail address he read out is correct and the sender of the e-mail, one Vivian Baksh, is also correct.

“The fourth truth is that the e-mail was received by accident. All right, we accept that, but in the body of the e-mail, which, like you, I read on the internet, it said, ‘Hello, good morning, honourable Prime Minister.'”

He also raised questions about the whereabouts of two other people – Rohit Persad and Vidya Deokiesingh – linked to the questionable transaction claim, wondering if they have fled the country.

"We have another man missing here, Vidya Deokiesingh. Where is Rohit Persad? You cannot find these people. They have taken off. They gone. You cannot find them. They are being disowned and thrown out. We don’t know if they are in Trinidad, if they are in Tobago, if they are in Margarita, if they are in Miami. We don’t know. They just disappear.

“I ask today if indeed that person was ever in the employ of Jokhan Construction Company,” he said in reference to a contractor who denied knowledge of Persad and a cheque issued to him in June 2017 for $2.6 million. Jokhan Contractors has since said that cheque was fraudulent.

As Moonilal spoke, a constituent walked around with the image of a cheque emblazoned on a large placard.

Moonilal said usually in civil matters if people allegedly act in corrupt ways and take money from a state enterprise, that state enterprise can sue, and if the person is found liable, then they would have to pay back the money.

He questioned whether if Deokiesingh, a suspended Petrotrin employee fingered in the A&V Drilling fake oil scandal, cannot be found, and Petrotrin is to become defunct, there will be no one to sue.

Both Moonilal and Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar condemned Rowley for naming Chaguanas alderman Marisa Ramlogan as a party to the legal action and threats to charge people commenting on the issue on social media.

Persad-Bissessar assured Ramlogan her party was standing behind her.

“We will not be silenced. They are now bringing legal charges against people who are expressing their democratic right to comment on national affairs.”

While she agrees that people should be subject to the law for defaming or maligning another's character, she said that must be balanced with people’s right to freedom of speech, which is enshrined in the Constitution.

“It must be weighed against freedom of the press, it must be offset against the rights of citizens to hold their elected officials, their government, to account.”