Al-Rawi: Jeremie has lost his way

FORMER attorney general Faris Al-Rawi says his predecessor John Jeremie has questions to answer about legal matters he was prosecuting with respect to the opposition UNC and other matters he was involved in before he mounted a political platform in Penal on April 14 to publicly endorse UNC leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

Al-Rawi said Jeremie has lost his way, has no influence in the PNM and the UNC's attempts to use him to persuade people to vote for it are destined to fail.

He made these comments to the media before a key distribution ceremony for starter homes at Bayshore, Marabella, on April 15.

Al-Rawi said, "As the former attorney general of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago myself for seven years and as the person who is still managing the Piarco Airport inquiry matter, I was shocked to see John Jeremie on a UNC platform because of the record in court, the record on (Parliament's) Hansard and the record in public, is that Mr Jeremie prosecuted the criminality and allegations against the UNC."

He added, "I say criminality because people went to jail in the USA and I say allegations with respect to matters that are before the courts at present."

Jeremie, Al-Rawi continued, is the subject of a Privy Council condemnation in relation to the Chief Magistrate (Marcia Ayers-Caesar) matter.

In a ruling on March 24, the Privy Council affirmed that Ayers-Caesar was wrongfully pressured into resigning by the Judicial and Legal Service Commission (JLSC), led by Chief Justice Ivor Archie, declaring her removal unconstitutional.

Jeremie reportedly served as an attorney to Archie for part of that matter.

Al-Rawi said, "But he is the man who prosecuted that there were allegations of significant corruption, which is before the courts right now, so I will be very careful how I speak about that, against people that he stood up on a platform last night representing (the UNC)."

He added while Jeremie was promoting the UNC, "some people in the UNC were in fact in the UNC government (1995-2001) against whom allegations stood."

Al-Rawi identified Persad-Bissessar, who served as attorney general for part of that period, as one of those people.

At a PNM meeting in San Fernando on April 2, Al-Rawi criticised the UNC’s handling of the Piarco case.

He accused the UNC of derailing investigations during Persad-Bissessar’s tenure as AG and later as prime minister (2010-2015).

Al-Rawi referred to the controversial Section 34 of the Administration of Justice Act, which he claimed could have allowed people implicated in the Piarco scandal to escape justice.

Despite its repeal following public outrage, Al-Rawi said seven people in a US court had already entered guilty pleas in a US court related to the scandal.

Al-Rawi reminded PNM supporters about government's pursuit of the matter in the US resulted in the securing of a judgment worth $1.3 billion in TT's favour.

He claimed this progress could be undone if the UNC wins on April 28.

In a judgement on June 27, 2022, the Privy Council questioned the administration of justice under Jeremie as AG in relation to various fraud and corruption offences arising out of the Piarco Airport scandal in the 1990's while the UNC was in government.

Jeremie was AG in the periods November 2003- November 2007 and May 2009- May 2010.

The Privy Council questioned whether the failure of one of the Piarco matters to proceed was a case where the scales of justice were broken and not merely tilted.

Al-Rawi said,"So to say that Mr John Jeremie has demonstrated an incredible contradiction is an understatement."

He gave his opinion of Jeremie's endorsement of Persad-Bissessar.

"You saw Mr Jeremie as a blue market crab tied up snugly, over a pot of boiling water about to make his way towards a callaloo for a Sunday lunch. That is how tied up he was.

"I think it incredible that someone could have lost his way as profoundly as Mr Jeremie has and I am saying that on the record of what he has said and done."

Jeremie, he continued, has no relevance to or influence on the PNM.

"John Jeremie, in my 15 years in the PNM from 2010 to date, has been mere mention of only a name."

Al-Rawi said Jeremie has been absent from party activities and has not "performed an ounce of contribution towards national service or position."

He added this means Jeremie is "of zero consequence of the reality of TT politics."

Al-Rawi said the UNC have resurrected Jeremie "in a very contradictory sort of way."

Jeremie, he continued, must explain the words he uttered in Penal in support of Persad-Bissessar.

"Was his attack against the UNC then, consistent with his position today? Does he have concerns about people he is associating himself with today that may or may not have been involved then?"

Al-Rawi said, "He is a man who will have to explain himself."

He added, "If John Jeremie had one person voting for him, it will be because he was voting for himself."

In his address in Penal on April 14, Jeremie said, "I stand to gain nothing for myself."

Jeremie described Persad-Bissessar and himself as patriots before he endorsed her.

He promised to vote for the UNC on April 28.

Jeremie also asked people to ignore race talk during the election campaign.