Sumairsingh’s killer escapes unscathed

THE REAL MURDERER of Mayaro/Rio Claro Regional Corporation chairman Hansraj Sumairsingh has escaped unscathed due to the incompetence of the State. This was the view expressed by Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday mere minutes after a High Court jury found former Local Government minister Dhanraj Singh not guilty of Sumairsingh’s murder. Sumairsingh was found shot to death in his Mayaro beach house on December 31, 1999. “The law has taken its course and he (Singh) has been found not guilty. This to me, demonstrates the incompetence of the State. The person who has actually done the killing has gone free,” Panday said. The United National Congress (UNC) leader added that those in authority “should be more competent in their work.”

However it was Panday as prime minister who fired Singh from his Cabinet when murder allegations were first levelled against him and it was under the UNC government that Singh’s incarceration and trial began. Before his murder, Sumairsingh wrote to Panday about death threats being made against him, but no security was provided for him. Panday and his wife Oma became godparents to Sumairsingh’s infant son Hansraj Jr, who was born shortly after Sumairsingh’s death. Reminded that he once referred to Singh as his best-performing minister, Panday stated that “at one time” he may have regarded him in that way. Former attorney-general Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj said he was “not surprised” that the jury delivered a “not guilty” verdict against Singh. He explained that when a prosecution relies on a person whose evidence comes with attached conditions, “that evidence is contaminated.”
 
Maharaj said even if the jury had found Singh guilty, such a verdict would have been quashed by either the Court of Appeal or the Privy Council.  The former AG said Singh was his former Cabinet colleague, but he had no personal feelings to express on yesterday’s events. Maharaj’s UNC successor Kamla Persad-Bissessar expressed her joy that Singh was freed. “Thank God for the jury who saw through the conspiracy and manipulation of the process,” she declared. Persad-Bissessar called for an “immediate inquiry” to find out why Sumairsingh’s killer was allowed to go free. “Justice has been served,” UNC Senator Sadiq Baksh stated. Fyzabad MP Chandresh Sharma said it was only “a matter of time” before Singh was found not guilty.  Sharma said Singh remains a member of the UNC and would be welcomed if he chose to make a political comeback. Shortly after Singh’s dismissal from the Cabinet, Panday announced that William Chaitan would replace Singh as the UNC’s Pointe-a-Pierre candidate and he turned over certain information to police regarding the allegations against Singh. Following Singh’s aborted trial in San Fernando in March, Barataria/San Juan MP Dr Fuad Khan said he had visited Singh in prison several times and expressed disappointment with the way the UNC had abandoned him. Jamaat-al-Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr also visited Singh in prison and expressed similar sentiments.