AG told to deal with Govt bribery accused

ATTORNEY General (AG) John Jeremie on Tuesday was  given an ultimatum by Opposition Senator Wade Mark to expeditiously deal with the matter of allegations of bribery against six high ranking Government officials, or have their names exposed to the public. Mark, who was addressing the Senate during the debate of the Bail (Amendment) (Number 2) Bill 2005, questioned why Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Geoffrey Henderson had been silent on the matter, considering he had received information regarding the alleged offences since August 20. “Why is he dragging his feet?” Mark asked. Mark then assured the AG that if he did not address the issue “shortly,” the public would be made aware of the identity of the officials involved, and the nature of the offences they were alleged to have committed. The Opposition Senator was, however, kind enough to allow the AG some time to confer with the DPP.

Borrowing the infamous words of the Prime Minister, Mark reminded members of the Government that “jail ain’t nice,” adding that many Government ministers were heading down that road. “Jail is not nice and there will be no bail for 60 days for most of you,” he  added. Continuing his attack on the AG, Mark demanded to know who gave the chairman of the Integrity Commission the authority to exempt judges and magistrates from declaring their assets, liabilities and income. Insisting that he was not casting aspersions on members of the Judiciary, Mark wanted to know how the guardians responsible for upholding the law could be allowed to break the law. Turning his attention to National Security Minister Martin Joseph, Mark wanted to know why acting Deputy Commissioner Oswyn Allard had not been appointed to the position after two years. When Senate President Dr Linda Baboolal cautioned him about being irrelevant and told him to get back to the Bail Bill, Mark argued that he was being relevant.

He said the two pillars in fighting crime were efficient policing and administration of justice.  With all types of suspicion arising, Mark asked, “How can people have confidence in those pillars?” According to Mark, people were noticing the manner in which the Government was showing favouritism to kidnap victims. “Why is there no helicopters in the search for Rajiv Changoor?” the senator asked. “All I ask of the Ministry of National Security is that any person kidnapped to be treated fairly,” he said. He added that the same search technique used  for released kidnap victim Jade Solis, be used in the search for Changoor.