Al-Rawi tells ‘Krysis’: Turn old talk into evidence

On Friday last, National Security Minister Edmund Dillon and Acting Deputy Commissioner of Police Wayne Dick toured Enterprise, Chaguanas after a bloody week of near daily murders flared up in the community. There they met Wakeel who, prior to the meeting, published a video on Facebook in which he named several police officers who he claimed were corrupt and contributing to crime in the area.

In their presence, Wakeel began speaking about the underlying causes of crime in Enterprise before Dillon stopped him to ask if he would be willing to provide said information to the police.

Wakeel agreed to do so but has not yet spoken with the police.

In an interview with Newsday, Al-Rawi sent one message to Wakeel.

“Step forward and speak,” he said. “Convert ole talk into evidence. It can’t just be that the ministers alone or the TTPS (Police Service) alone can do this job by themselves. It is time for the old talk to finish. The armchair mentality in our country of just bad-talking is enjoyable for many, but if we are really serious about it, everybody has to step forward because those who are in crime in this country are a minority.”

KRYSIS NOT NEEDED FOR INVESTIGATIONS

Meanwhile, Umar Abdullah, head of the Islamic Front and the man leading the charge to bring peace to Enterprise, told Newsday yesterday that independent bodies like the Police Complaints Authority, the investigative arm of the TTPS and the Professional Standards Bureau do not need someone to come forward to launch an investigation into Wakeel’s allegations.

“(They) owe the country that responsibility whether or not people come to them personally or willingly as the case may be,” Abdullah said.

“I mean it is all over the newspapers, all over Facebook, anywhere you go you are reading about it.

So these powers that be and these independent institutions, if it is they want to put their head in the sand like ostriches and pretend that they do not know what is happening and do not launch an investigation, I will officially make that call on Friday.” Al-Rawi said Abdullah was right to say these bodies could conduct investigations on their own, but “Any investigation, obviously, is materially assisted by having a witness who can speak to information.” Abdullah said Wakeel has not spoken with the police because he is concerned about whether he would be treated fairly especially after his interaction with Dillon and Dick.

“I was very disappointed in the way the minister of National Security and ACP Wayne Dick addressed the young man,” said Abdullah.

“I think it is indicative of us as a people when we have sensitive matters like these, we forget that there is an approach called social intervention and we continue to believe that military might is going to solve our problems. The TTPS in this particular instance and instances like these throughout the country do not need military might, what we need is social might.”