Guyana’s Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, says embattled Local Government Minister, Nigel Dharamlall, is innocent until proven guilty as the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) called on the police to continue their investigations into the rape allegations against him by a 16-year old girl.
“Mr. Dharamlall as a citizen is accorded certain constitutional and legal safeguards by the highest of our laws – the Constitution. He is accorded certain facilities, he is presumed innocent like every other citizen of this country, and the investigative arm of the State must be allowed, free from any form of pressure to conduct its investigatory role and functions,” Nandlall said on his televised program ‘Issues in the News’ on Tuesday night.
Dharamlall, an executive member of the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP), who is on one million dollars (one Guyana dollar=US$0.004 cents) bail, has publicly denied all accusations.
Police had arrested the minister, who has since gone on leave to facilitate the probe, when he presented himself at the Brickdam Police Station in the company of his attorney, Nigel Hughes, last week Monday night.
There have been calls from the opposition, as well as several civil society organizations including the Amerindian Peoples Association and Red Thread, for Dharamlall to be removed from public office.
They have also called for a fair and transparent investigation into the allegations made by the 16-year-old schoolgirl against the embattled minister.
Nandlall in his broadcast assured that the process outlined in the country’s Criminal Justice System is being “scrupulously” followed.
“Mr. Nigel Dharamlall is a colleague of ours in the Government, and he is also a citizen of Guyana. In both capacities, he is entitled to certain due processes. Those due processes as enshrined in our administrative protocols, in our legal statutes, in our criminal processes, are being pursued and are being carried out.
“They will not be influenced one way or another by virtue of the fact that Mr. Dharamlall is a minister or it will be compromised in any form or fashion because politicians would like a particular outcome,” Nandlall said.
Head of the Criminal Investigations Department, Assistant Commissioner Wendell Blanhum, has confirmed that the DPP had asked the police to further investigate allegations after reviewing a file that had been sent to the DPP office.
The Office of the DPP, in a statement, said that it will not be intimidated by individuals who profess to want justice in a criminal matter even while a police file is being given due legal attention.
It urged the public to desist from politicizing an alleged criminal offence, adding “all statements or evidence must be considered before legal advice is given to the Guyana Police Force.”
The teenager remains in the protective care of the Ministry of Human Services’ Child Care and Protection Agency and is said to be receiving all necessary support including counselling.
Nandlall said as the Attorney General, he is not involved in the matter and that the government is following protocols as it treats with this very sensitive issue.
“I want to assure that the government is complying with all the standard operating procedures and the state apparatus is complying with all the standard operating procedures in this matter, and the Government is not intervening. The government has no role to play,” he added.
