The Police Complaints Authority (PCA) is expected to disclose today whether it will launch an investigation into the attack on Guardian’s photographer Kristian De Silva or whether it will await the outcome of an investigation by the Police Service.
This comes on the heels of the Police Service indicating through its twitter account on Saturday that acting Commissioner of Police Harold Phillip had ordered an investigation into an allegation that am off duty police officer assaulted a De Silva.
Owner of A&V Oil and Gas company Hanif Nazim Baksh has claimed through media reports that De Silva did not identify himself as being a journalist.
This was the second assault on a member of the media taking photos of A&V Oil and Gas as last Wednesday, a reporter from another media house reported a similar incident of assault which occurred while standing on the public road.
In an interview yesterday, director of the PCA director David West confirmed to the T&T Guardian that a determination is to be made today whether the PCA would initiate a probe.
Pressed further to comment about the incident, West said as of yesterday the reports were allegations until the matter is investigated. West also confirmed that he was aware of the report that a photographer was assaulted but noted that they are only allegations until it is properly investigated.
Generally, West said the PCA does not support excessive force unto civilians by police officers, even excessive force unto journalists who are doing their work. The Media Association of T&T had stated that it was disturbed by the incident and called for the police to investigate.