Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi’s recent disclosure that Strategic Services Agency (SSA) work resulted in people being brought before the courts concerning the murder of State prosecutor Dana Seetahal, could prejudice prosecution of the accused and cause a mistrial, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar has warned.
Speaking at a media briefing at the Opposition’s Port-of-Spain office yesterday, she added:
“Did the AG consider that he could well have undermined the exact work of the SSA in solving this crime by his reckless and irresponsible statements?
“He has disclosed to the public the means and the nature of the information that the prosecution would have to reply upon in this prosecution by the State.
“This could now lead to applications for disclosure by the accused of this sensitive information which could adversely affect the prosecution of this matter and could cause mistrial.”
Persad Bissessar noted that in the May 10 Senate debate of the controversial SSA Bill, Al-Rawi, replying to a question from Independent Senator Sophia Chote, had said “.... I thought twice about saying what I am about to say but I am going to say it anyway.
“What has the SSA done effectively or what has interception done in relation to the Dana Seetahal case? Well I can tell you as a matter of fact that it is the SSA’s work that has resulted in people standing before the courts today for that offence, and that is a fact.”
Persad-Bissessar asked: “Did the Attorney General consider that his statements could now have the effect of prejudicing the prosecution of the said persons that he referred to that are now before the courts?”
Persad-Bissessar also called on the Commissioner of Police and the Director of Public Prosecutions to investigate whether Al-Rawi and/or anyone else who breached the Interception of Communication (IC) and Strategic Services Agency (SSA) Bill by his disclosure.
She noted that under the IC Act, the SSA reports only to the Police Commissioner, SSA director and Chief of Defence Staff. She pointed out large fines and jail terms under the IC Act (Section 23/5) and the SSA Act (Section 8) concerning persons who, without authorisation, possess intercepted information and disclose it.
She added: “The Attorney General must come clean and say how he came into possession of information that was gathered by the SSA in the Seetahal investigation.
“The question must be asked whether the AG, by his statements and actions in this matter, has contravened any of these provisions or was complicit in contravening any of these sections.
“I challenge the Attorney General to disclose how he came into possession of that information he revealed... that it was the work of the SSA that has resulted in persons standing before the courts in relation to the Seetahal murder.
“If the Attorney General’s statement is truthful, the inescapable conclusion is that the SSA reports to the Attorney General or the Attorney General has access to the information in the SSA’s possession,
“If his statements are untrue and were made only to answer the contribution of Senator Chote, we have much more to be worried about.
“That the Attorney General has access to information and could say so as a matter of fact, regarding the prosecution of persons in this country, is a matter of grave concern and should also be a matter of grave concern to the law enforcement agencies, be it the Police Commissioner or Director of Public Prosecutions.”
She added: “Is the Attorney General using the SSA to spy on and surreptitiously gather information from the office of the CoP... or using the SSA to gather information from the DPP’s office?
“How many other persons and what other information does the Attorney General have on citizens? He clearly understood the seriousness of what he was about to disclose and that‘s why he paused and stated that he thought twice about what he had to say.”
Persad-Bissessar said the AG’s words had also demonstrated how abuse of the law was taking place, even before the recent controversial SSA amendment was brought into effect.
”This is exactly what we warned would happen if you allow this Government to have control of an agency with powers of the SSA,” she added.
Also slamming the Prime Minister’s recent statements on crime, as “clueless, callous and insulting,” Persad-Bissessar called on the PM to fire the three National Security Ministers, state Government’s anti-crime plan and provide counselling for those who have lost loved ones to murder.