One day after a legal battle was mounted by Chief Justice Ivor Archie questioning the remit of the Law Association of T&T to investigate him, British newspaper The Guardian yesterday ran a report highlighting some of the allegations levelled against the CJ.
In an article headlined “Questions over shooting of gay man with links to Trinidad judge,” journalist Robert Booth spoke to Dillian Johnson, the man who fled T&T for the UK recently claiming he feared for his life.
In the story, Booth describes Johnson as a “man who was shot in an ambush and is now seeking asylum in the UK,” and quotes Johnson as saying: “I fear being murdered for my sexuality if I go back.”
The article details the allegations in the public domain about the CJ, noting Johnson feared he would be a target because this was “highly publicised.” It also highlighted the incident in which Johnson was shot outside his Gasparillo home on December 3, 2017 and how he arrived in the UK within days on December 29. Johnson told Booth he was the victim of a targeted hit.
Efforts to contact Booth were unsuccessful yesterday.
But in a statement to British authorities, British human rights activist Peter Tatchell, who is assisting Johnson with his asylum application, said based on the “evidence” which Johnson had shown him, he believes he has “a well-founded fear of persecution in Trinidad and Tobago, including the possibility of being murdered.” He said Johnson had told him he has “masses of evidence which he has copied to third parties, with instructions that it should be handed to the media and UK police, in the event that he is extradited, kidnapped or murdered.”
In his statement, Tatchell said since last year the T&T media had been investigating the matter involving the CJ and Johnson. He said Johnson is concerned that there may be an attempt to silence him.
Tatchell’s statement details reports which Johnson made to the police about the attack and indicated that Johnson said they “have never contacted him since he filed the initial report of the crime.” Johnson, he said, felt there had been no proper investigation of the gun attack and that attempts to apprehend his killer or killers “appears to have been stalled, possibly under pressure from powerful influential people.”
On January 11, Johnson’s attorney, Thalia Francis-Brooks, told the media Johnson had been granted political asylum in the United Kingdom (UK), but she failed to produce any evidence to prove this. One day later, the British High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago, Tim Stew, issued a brief statement saying: “The British High Commission in Port of Spain has seen claims made by attorney Thalia Francis-Brooks. It is unclear where this attorney is obtaining her information but it is obviously not from the UK authorities.”
The report in the British Guardian and the release of Tatchell’s statement came on the day after the CJ initiated legal action to stop the Law Association from investigating allegations of misconduct against him.
The matter will be heard in the High Court tomorrow before Justice Nadia Kangaloo.