Amidst revelations by Acting Attorney General Stuart Young that criminals lawyers were helping gangsters run criminal empires, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar is calling on him to provide his evidence to the police rather than staining and defaming the character of attorneys.
“If he has personal knowledge and if he is a criminal attorney and has knowledge as a criminal attorney of what is happening then take it to the police,” Persad-Bissessar said yesterday.
During a contribution in Parliament on Friday, Young told the House: “As a member of the bar now for 20 years, it saddened me to learn that there are currently persons at the criminal bar who practice in our criminal courts as attorneys at law who have been facilitating gang members in gang activity and who have been participating in illegal communications with their clients and actually assisting their clients, it appears, in running their criminal empires.”
Young also called on law enforcement officers to investigate matter expeditiously. But when asked to produce evidence by Barataria/San Juan MP Dr Fuad Khan, Young said the police were already aware of this and should be investigating it
Yesterday, however, Persad-Bissessar expressed scepticism over Young’s claim, saying, “I think it is another kind of statement that contradicts the democratic and judicial process and the role of lawyers in our country.
“If you know an attorney is doing that why don’t you lock him up? Why is it you keep bad-mouthing people and you doing nothing? If you know that someone is doing something wrong then report them to the police. To make these blanket statements is not right. It is not the first time Young did this, making these blanket statements and defaming people’s character.”
She said she was not a criminal lawyer, but there were many brilliant lawyers in T&T, including Israel Khan and Ramesh Maharaj.
the T&T’s Law Association is urging the police to take action if evidence is found to support Young’s claims.
Young made the statement in the House of Representatives as he contributed to a motion to approve the Senate amendments to the Anti-Gang Bill 2018.
Also expressing concern about Young’s claim yesterday was the Law Association of T&T.
“The report in Parliament by the Acting Attorney General of the existence of un-contradictable evidence that members of the legal profession are facilitating gang members or participating with them in illegal gang activities is naturally of concern to the Law Association. There is no place in the legal profession for anyone engaged in criminal activity of any kind,” the association said in a statement.
“We, therefore, urge the police to act immediately to bring charges against any lawyer in respect of whom they are in possession of credible evidence of the commission of a criminal offence.”