Moonilal: Police disciplinary tribunals should be heard in public

Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal is calling for police tribunals to be made public in light of recent concerns raised by Police Complaints Authority (PCA) director David West, regarding the collapse of two high-profile criminal cases.

The collapse resulted in 12 police officers walking free, prompting questions about the circumstances surrounding the police’s failure to follow court orders.

On November 21, the PCA announced it would investigate the collapse of a case involving seven police officers accused of extortion and corruptly appropriating over $100,000 seized from several businesses in Sangre Grande.

The case was dismissed by Master of the High Court Sarah de Silva after the police failed to comply with court instructions to prosecute the matter promptly.

Similarly, the PCA is investigating another case from November 20, where five officers were charged with soliciting a bribe of $30,000 from a couple in Arouca to drop charges after drugs and camouflage uniforms were allegedly found in their home.

That case ended after the prosecution concluded that there was insufficient evidence to go forward.

The PCA's press release highlighted the Professional Standards Bureau (PSB) had conducted both high-profile investigations. It also noted that successive police commissioners had ignored the PCA’s recommendations on how to address the failures of police prosecutors over the past 13 years.

In response, Moonilal called for clarity on whether Police Commissioner Erla Harewood-Christopher’s announcement of a disciplinary inquiry against three officers would replace the PCA’s investigation. He also wanted to know the timeframe of the commissioner’s tribunal investigation.

Moonilal argued that tribunal hearings should be held in public to restore public confidence in the police service, which he believes is severely lacking. He stressed that public hearings would add urgency to the proceedings, which could otherwise drag on for years and “die a calculated natural death.”

The lack of transparency, he warned, could be seen as another example of a police cover-up of alleged crimes by officers.

“The authorities have a critical responsibility to ensure accountability and justice in this matter. There should also be similar inquiries into other cases that collapsed due to the failure of prosecutors to appear.”

He also called for the Joint Select Committee (JSC) on National Security to convene an emergency session to question the CoP and other senior members of the police service on these “sordid matters.”

Moonilal urged the JSC to offer recommendations for “fundamental change in policy and law to prevent any reoccurrence of such dastardly development.“

While the JSC cannot deal with disciplinary matters, he stressed the need for legislative intervention to address systemic issues. Moonilal is a member of the JSC.