AG warns Opposition Leader about probes

Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi has told Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar she should be very afraid because of certain matters which have been brought to the attention of British authorities.

He made the statement during debate on the budget in the Parliament on Friday.

“If I was Mrs Persad-Bissessar, the member for Siparia, I would be mortally afraid of what is being investigated by the British authorities."

He said he had been in contact with the Attorney General of the UK and was a witness in whistleblower proceedings.

Al-Rawi said the issues brought up against him by the Opposition Leader during her contribution and previously, including the sale of a vehicle, and the rental of various properties, were an attempt to malign his character.

“It is a matter of public record that I am a main witness in certain matters before the court involving people who once held office under the Leader of the Opposition, including senior Cabinet members and a former attorney general. The laws of Trinidad and Tobago prohibit witness-tampering. There are attacks on the attorney at law for the State’s main witness in whistleblowing proceedings by the Leader of the Opposition.

“Reports have been made to the police investigative authorities and international agencies, as I have informed the national crime agency of exactly what Mrs Persad-Bissessar is doing. The repeated excursions into matters of addressing witnesses before court, impugning the character of witnesses before the court, impugning the office-holders in the exercise of their duties in the public forum are calculated to trip the fair-trial process so that you would get a case thrown out of court.

“I ask the question, is Mrs Persad-Bissessar’s obsession with me in the position I hold as Attorney General designed to encourage undue public publicity such as to affect a fair trial in matters that she is concerned about? There is a serious attempt to interrupt trials in this country for which people have serious allegations to answer.”

After objections by the Opposition, Al-Rawi went on to ask, “What is it that someone holds over the Leader of the Opposition?

Al-Rawi also questioned how the Opposition Leader came into possession of confidential documents lodged with the Integrity Commission which she read in Parliament on Friday.

Responding to a question via text from Newsday about Al-Rawi’s revelations, Persad-Bissessar said, “The AG is clearly rattled by the information made public today and made lame excuses for his alleged breaches of the law. He continues to duck the questions by using the fig leaf of court proceedings.”