MATT: Why did assault case collapse?

THE Media Association of TT (MATT) is calling on the police and office of the Director of Public Prosecution to explain how the case of an alleged assault of a newspaper photographer was dismissed for a lack of prosecution.

In a media release yesterday MATT said that the case against A&V Drilling CEO Haniff Nazim Baksh and his son-in-law, Cpl Billy Ramsundar, were dismissed after the magistrate called it a “mockery of the criminal justice system”. The charges against the men arose from the alleged assault of Guardian South Bureau photographer Kristian da Silva in September 2017. The case fell apart on July 15 after it had been set for trial on several occasions and neither the police nor the state prosecutor showed up despite given a six-month grace to get their house in order.

“The association has been closely monitoring this case,” the release said and following the dismissal on July 5, MATT contacted the Professional Standards Bureau (PSB) regarding the collapse of the case.

“The discharging of these men is, at best, a shocking example of negligence by institutions responsible for criminal prosecution. At worst, it is a tacit endorsement by law enforcement of attacks on journalists and press freedom, and a suspicious development given that one of the accused is a wealthy friend of the Prime Minister and the other a member of the TTPS.”

MATT noted that in March 2018, Baksh was charged indictably with obstruction of justice related to the assault charges after he was accused of knowingly, or reasonably, believing Khusial Motiram to be a potential witness in a criminal investigation into the assault of da Silva, used threats to influence Motiram to give false evidence and withhold true evidence.

MATT noted that after two strongly-worded newspaper editorials, radio commentaries, correspondence from MATT to PSB and calls from sectors of civil society, there has been no explanation forthcoming from the TTPS or the Office of the DPP for their respective non-appearance in court. In follow-up telephone communication with the PSB on July 24, 2019, MATT was told the matter is “under investigation.”

“MATT insists that both Police Commissioner Gary Griffith and DPP Roger Gaspard, SC, provide a thorough explanation for their failure to prosecute. Nothing less will counter public perception that privileged access may be at play here."