DPP
to review notes of evidence:
Williams
not yet off the hook
Port Spain
Petroleumworldtt.com
01 13 08
THE Director of Public Prosecutions is moving
to have corruption charges against former energy
minister Eric Williams relaid.
The
DPP’s decision came ten days after Port-of-Spain
magistrate Lucina Cardenas-Ragoonanan threw out
the charges, and a day after Williams’ accuser
PNM councillor Dansam Dhansook called on the DPP
to review the evidence.
Cardenas-Ragoonanan held that the State did not
prove its case against the former minister.
A
source in the DPP’s office said last night,
that around 3 pm yesterday they were in the process
of filing the judge’s warrant to have the
notes of evidence reviewed in an effort to have
the charges relaid.
The source said after the warrant (not an arrest
warrant) was executed, the judge would have a six-month
time frame during which he/she must obtain the
court notes (notes of evidence) and decide whether
Williams should be committed to stand trial in
the High Court.
If
the judge disagrees with Cardenas-Ragoonanan’s
decision to dismiss the charge, a warrant would
be issued for Williams’ arrest and would
be served on him by a senior police officer.
It was on December 31, that Cardenas-Ragoonanan
freed Williams of seven charges of misconduct in
public office.
Williams
had been charged with accepting $75,000 in bribes
from People’s National Movement
(PNM) councillor Dansam Dhansook between January
and June 2003, to obtain a seismic contract in
Point Galeota.
He resigned from his portfolio as energy minister
in 2005, after the charges were laid against him.
Dhansook also made allegations against former
works and transport minister Franklin Khan.
Khan,
who was also the PNM’s chairman, is
charged with six counts of misconduct in public
office by corruptly accepting $120,500 in bribes
from Dhansook.
In
her ruling, Cardenas-Ragoonanan said the evidence
against Williams was “manifestly unreliable.”
She said the prosecution team had failed to make
out a prima facie case against Williams.
Attorney George Busby represented the State.
The
spokesman in the DPP’s office said: “The
move to have a judge’s warrant executed is
in accordance with the Preliminary Inquiry Act.
“It gives the State the right to have the
matter reviewed and a decision will be made on
whether the magistrate’s ruling was wrong
and if there was sufficient evidence to commit.
“Magistrate
Cardenas-Ragoonanan should have recused herself
from the matter given the close
affiliations her husband Harry has with the Government.
“Nobody
is saying that the ruling was politically motivated,
but it is questionable and the State
has moved to get a second opinion in the matter.”
The Charges
On a date unknown between the period January 1
and January 31, 2003, at St James, he being a minister
in public office, did misconduct by corruptly receiving
$15,000 from Dansam Dhansook for a contract to
supply labour, security and transport to Terra
Seis Limited, a company engaged in seismic surverys
in Trinidad.
On a date unknown between the period February 1
and 28, 2003, at St James, he being a minister
in public office, did misconduct by corruptly accepting
$10,000 from Dansam Dhansook for a contract to
supply labour, security and transport to Terra
Seis Ltd, a company engaged in seismic surveys
in Trinidad.
On a date unknown between the period March 1 and
March 31, 2003, at St James, he being a minister
in public office, did misconduct by corruptly receiving
$10,000 from Dansam Dhansook for a contract to
supply labour, security and transport to Terra
Seis Ltd, a company engaged in seismic surverys
in Trinidad.
On a date unknown between the period April 1 and
April 30, 2003, at St James, he being a minister
in public office, did misconduct by corruptly receiving
$10,000 from Dansam Dhansook for a contract to
supply labour, security and transport to Terra
Seis Ltd, a company engaged in seismic surverys
in Trinidad.
On a date unknown between the period May 1 and
May 30, 2003, at St James, he being a minister
in public office, did misconduct by corruptly receiving
$10,000 from Dansam Dhansook for a contract to
supply labour, security and transport to Terra
Seis Ltd, a company engaged in seismic surverys
in Trinidad.
On a date unknown between the period June 1 and
June 30, 2003, at St James, he being a minister
in public office, did misconduct by corruptly receiving
$10,000 from Dansam Dhansook for a contract to
supply labour, security and transport to Terra
Seis Ltd, a company engaged in seismic surverys
in Trinidad.
On a date unknown between the period July 1 and
July 31, 2003, at St James, he being a minister
in public office, did misconduct by corruptly receiving
$10,000 from Dansam Dhansook for a contract to
supply labour, security and transport to Terra
Seis Ltd, a company engaged in seismic surveys
in T&T.
Story
by Anita Gumbs - Sandiford from The Trinidad Guardian
The
Trinidad Guardian
Thursday
10th January, 2008
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