Possible arrests stemming from the controversial Life Sport programme can soon materalise following a completed audit.
So said Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi, who was fielding questions from members of the media after speaking at a privacy and law enforcement forum at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine, yesterday.
He said the First Citizens’ ILO audit is also completed and that would also engage the attention of relevant officials to determine the next course of action.
“As a result of audits performed in the government sector and institutions, information has come forward and due process has to be followed and that will happen by those who have the responsibility to do that. You will hear about that quite soon,” Al-Rawi added.
Pressed on whether that included the laying of charges, he maintained that due process must be followed, adding it would be up to the police to decide.
“The matter is in train... there are many bits of consideration over these issues, some are civil, some are criminal, some are in other camps. Some are in the Government’s camp.
“The Government could never intrude upon the work of independent entities. We are not the Police Service and we are not the DPP. We are enablers of certain things,” Al-Rawi added.
On the effectiveness of the Interception of the Communication Bill, he said that piece of legislation led to a breakthrough in the Dana Seetahal murder probe.
But Dean of the Law Faculty, Rose-Marie Antoine, expressed concern over the authorities having access to interception without a warrant.
She added that greatly worried her.
Al-Rawi said there was a lot of confusion regarding the SSA Amendment Bill and the Interception of Communication Bill.
“It seems as if many people had just woken up from a deep sleep for the last five years,” Al- Rawi said, adding that the Act was passed in 2010.
He said areas of the Act must be carefully followed to obtain evidence, otherwise it could be deemed null and void.
‘Right to privacy must be ensured
Deryck Murray, chairman of the T&T Transparency Institute, said: “Corruption thrived in a veil of secrecy” adding that very often secrecy and privacy were often intertwined.
Saying it was, therefore, up to civil society to ensure there was a balance between information being readily available and the work of law enforcement officers, Murray said the right to privacy must be ensured, especially to those who were not the perpetrators.
Regarding the issue of trust he said oftentimes members of the public questioned whether the judicial process was fair and above board.
He added that T&T ranked 39 on the current corruption index.
He asked: “Do we just want laws on the books? We the people who form civil society need to make our voices heard. We need to see implementation.”
Commenting on 14 people being killed over the last weekend Murray said it had come to a point where murdering someone was now the answer if somebody got vex with someone.