Moonilal: Jail for journalists under new legislation

OROPOUCHE East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal said new legislation could be used to jail journalists.

He was contributing to debate on the Interception of Communication (Amendment) Bill in the House Friday.

He said that  a voice note a journalist received from a prisoner could be intercepted and used in a court as evidence under the legislation.

"The journalist now face(s)...serious legal consequences having that. Because that information is not just intelligence, as it was before, it is evidence."

He continued: "And today there is a blatant and obscene attack on the media houses, on journalists. It is jail for journalists under this piece of legislation."

Speaker Bridgid Annisette-George intervened and said his last statement was not factual but an assumption that was imputing improper motives. She asked him to retract the statement and Moonilal agreed to do so.

He said according to a report provided by the Commissioner of Police through the Strategic Services Agency in 2017 there were 972,000 interceptions of speech and data. He added, however, that the number of people arrested was five and the number of criminal proceedings commenced in which intercepted communication could be used was nil.

"That is almost one million points of 'macoing' for this spy bill for which no one has been convicted."

He claimed Government wished to make a "diabolical change" to the legislation and have the right to use intercepted communication that was not gained through the use of a warrant. He also said Government wanted the ability to use stored data.

"I am a victim of the abuse by officials of this Government purporting to use intercepted communications. That is why citizens are not free in this country. Because you could manufacture anything you want and say this is intercepted (and) take it out of context."

He added: "Neither myself or any member of the Opposition, I can't tell you for the last five years, has ever been called, reached out, contacted by the police concerning any matter related to criminality, gang warfare and criminals and so on. But our names are called. It is by officials that have gone rogue. And they expect you now to trust them with this material."

Moonilal questioned why Government wished to have civil matters included under the bill. He claimed that the legislation was completely unfair and unjust and prisoners were being used as a "veil for deeper tyranny" like that of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. Annisette-George asked him to withdraw the word "tyranny" and Moonilal agreed.