The Enemy Within... (Section 34 Cont'd)

Imagine if, faced with the real possibility of conviction for crimes charged with having committed you had the connections and the finances to change the law? To the many following this Section 34 fiasco it is starting to appear that this is precisely what occurred, and the firing and disgrace of Herbert Volney notwithstanding, further questions need to be asked and answered before we can 'move on' as so many on the government side seems anxious to do. IS the former Minister being investigated by any authorities for what he was fired from the Cabinet for? Are charges expected to be laid?

The fact of the matter is we cannot move on until we know where we want to go, and we cannot know that until we understand what exactly took place here. The eight hundred pound gorilla in the room is the question that STILL has not been answered, and that question is why. Why was this done? Even if we take the Prime Minister on her word and accept that Herbert Volney set out on this path to deceive the Cabinet and the nation on his own, we still do not know why, and until that matter is ventilated we cannot realistically know who else was involved, and until we know that we as a nation can have nowhere to go as none of this makes any sense.

Attorney at Law Gregory Delzin on the CNC3 morning show raised a very serious point regarding the timeline of events and perhaps that is where we need to focus our energies. For the purposes of this discussion and based on facts already in the public domain, these are some important dates to note:

- October 9th 2010  Attorney General John Jeremie signs the extradition warrants against Ishwar Galbaransingh and Steve Ferguson who are wanted in the United States on bid- rigging charges.

- November 7th 2011 Justice Ronnie Boodoosingh delivered the following Judgement -

"164. The decision of the Attorney General to order the extradition of the claimants to the United States of America is quashed.

165. It is declared that the appropriate forum to try the claimants in relation to the award of contracts for the construction of the Piarco Airport, and in particular contracts CP 9 and CP 13, is Trinidad and Tobago.

166. It is declared that it would be unjust, oppressive and unlawful to order the extradition of the claimants and that extradition is debarred by the operation of section 16 (3) of the Extradition Act of Trinidad and Tobago. Having regard to my clear finding on this issue I do not think it necessary to make an order of prohibition. The effect ought to be the same."

- December 16th 2011 AN ACT to repeal and replace the Indictable Offences (Preliminary Enquiry) Act, Chap. 12:01 and to provide for a system of pre-trial proceedings relating to indictable offences and other related matters (inclusive of the now controversial Section 34) is Assented to

- December 19th 2011 Attorney General Ramlogan announces he will not be appealing   the judgement quashing the extradition of former UNC financiers Ishwar Galbaransingh and Steve Ferguson.

- August 31st 2012 controversial Section 34 of the act is proclaimed into law.

- September 14th 2012 Ish and Steve appeals to have there matters voided under Section 34. Matter adjourned to October 2nd

- September 14th 2012  After much public outcry Parliament repeals Section 34.

Based on all of the above the burning question that begs to be asked is, was Attorney General Anand Ramlogan aware of this Act including Section 34 when he decided NOT to appeal Justice Boodoosingh's decision on the extradition? Was he mindful of the fact THEN that  that decision could have opened a loophole under the provisions of Section 34 and, based on the amount of time that had passed since the alleged offences were said to have been committed, was tantamount to letting these men and others invested in the party that forms the bulk of the coalition go free?

Someone said this morning that the difference between what happened in 1990 and this fiasco is that in 1990 the attack against the people was launched from outside the Parliament. I could not agree more....