Questions abound over Good Hope arms cache computer
Stabroek News
January 20, 2003
Government officials seem unwilling to confirm the whereabouts of the computer which was found in the possession of the three men at Good Hope, East Coast Demerara, which reports say is capable of tracking calls made from cell phones.
On December 4, the three men, Haroun Yahya, Sean Benfield and Shaheed Khan were detained by an army patrol at Good Hope and handed over to the Police. They were charged and placed before the courts on January 16 but were released on bail. They were charged with possession of arms and ammunition but there was no mention of the computer. The computer has been at the centre of much speculation and when it was discovered it prompted a meeting of top security officials to consider the implications of its alleged use by the three men.
Home Affairs Minister Ronald Gajraj told Stabroek News on Saturday that he thought that the computer is in the custody of either the police or the army. He could not say whether the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company had been given the opportunity to examine the computer to determine whether any of its functions could compromise its operations and if those functions breach the Postal and Telegraph Act. Stabroek News has been unable to contact the appropriate official at GT&T for a comment.
An official at the National Frequency Management Unit also declined to disclose whether or not the Police had approached that agency to determine whether the use of the computer to intercept phone calls requires a licence from that agency.
An official at the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions told Stabroek News that it had offered no advice to the Police as to whether it was legal for a computer with the reported capability of intercepting telephone calls to be in the possession of a private individual.
He said too that the Customs and Trade Administration of the Guyana Revenue Authority had been asked to advise whether the computer and the software had been legally imported into the country. Stabroek News has been unable to ascertain whether this advice has been tendered.
The legality of the importation arises from the fact that the software installed on the computer is only sold to governments.
