AG: Ramlogan in court on April 9

THE witness-tampering case against former attorney general Anand Ramlogan will begin in the Port of Spain High Court on April 9. Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi made this announcement at a news conference at the Attorney General and Legal Affairs Tower in Port of Spain yesterday.

Al-Rawi told reporters, “I’ll be signing at the request of the police, a witness statement in that matter immediately after this press conference.”

He also disclosed being “asked in the capacity of attorney general to cause the admission to the inner bar of the lead counsel for the DPP’s (Director of Public Prosecutions) Office.” Asked whether all the witnesses were prepared to go to court, Al-Rawi said he could not speak for the DPP’s Office or the Police Service. “I respect the separation of powers in this country. That would be a matter for them to speak to.” He reminded reporters this matter caused current Police Commissioner Gary Griffith to be fired as national security minister from then prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s Cabinet in February 2015, “for telling the truth.”

Al-Rawi said Ramlogan reluctantly resigned as attorney general that same month. Police Complaints Authority (PCA) director David West alleged that he was asked by Ramlogan to withdraw his witness statement in a defamation lawsuit Ramlogan had filed against then opposition leader (now Prime Minister) Dr Keith Rowley for comments made about Section 34 and extradition proceedings involving businessmen Ishwar Galbaransingh and Steve Ferguson.

But contacted for comment yesterday, ex-AG Ramlogan asked how Al-Rawi could predict that the matter would begin on April 9. “This smacks of interference in the judicial process,” Ramlogan said.

He then asked what kind of inside information AG Al-Rawi had, to make such a “bold, reckless and inappropriate statement” in the public domain, via a press conference.

The case management, Ramlogan said, lay in the hands of judicial officers and as such, he asked if this was an attempt by the Attorney General to unduly influence the matter.