‘Blatant abuse of power’ -illegal PNM rally

On Friday the Indo-Trinbago Equality Council (ITEC) faxed a written a letter of complaint to the Integrity Commission, claiming there was an abuse of power by acting Commissioner of Police (CoP) James Philbert, during a People’s National Movement (PNM) political rally while a no-confidence motion in Prime Minister Patrick Manning was being debated in Parliament on September 12th, 2008.

The letter stated "It is clear that the present acting Commissioner of Police did not exercise his powers in a fair and impartial manner and demonstrated and afforded preferential treatment to the supporters of the ruling party,"  and that CoP Philbert  "revealed a clear political bias in favour of the ruling party and failed to uphold the rule of law," .

It is public knowledge that no permission was granted by the CoP for this rally.

"The acting Commissioner of Police has thus far not charged anyone for the several violations and criminal offences committed," Maharaj wrote.

 Maharaj said no attempts were made by Philbert to disperse the crowd, in compliance with Section 3 of the Summary Offences Act, which deals with illegal meetings held without the CoP’s permission.

 Maharaj, in his letter, said the inaction and glaring omission on Philbert’s part was conspicuous because there was   much controversy over the manner in which he was appointed to act as Commissioner of Police.

 Contacted yesterday, Maharaj said he hoped that the commission would “unshackle itself from its political master and call a spade a spade.”

 “If the commission claims they are fair then this is one way of testing it. And I ask that my complaint be dealt with expeditiously,” he said.

 Maharaj added that he hoped the commission would launch an investigation to determine if Philbert abused his powers. He also threatened that if the Commission failed to take the necessary action, “we would have no choice but to sue.”

Trinidad Guardian, Sunday 5th October, 2008