President to Corbin: encourage informants to talk to the Police

President to Corbin: encourage informants to talk to the Police
Guyana Chronicle
January 22, 2004

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PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo has joined the call for people with information on the phantom squad issue to come forward and give a formal statement to the Police, and he is urging Opposition/PNCR Leader Robert Corbin to encourage informants to talk to the law enforcement agency.

Guyana Chronicle understands that President Jagdeo gave that advice to Mr. Corbin in a response to a letter the Opposition Leader wrote the President regarding allegations against Home Affairs Minister Ronald Gajraj.

A day after Shafeek Bacchus was gunned down outside his home in Princes Street, Lodge, on January 5, George Bacchus told the PNCR and the media that the bullet that killed his brother was meant for him.

Bacchus alleged that he knew his brothers' killers and that the men who have since been charged with Shafeek Bacchus's murder were part of a phantom squad to which Minister Gajraj was linked.

According to a source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, President Jagdeo said he favoured an investigation into any allegation that implicated any public official. But he reportedly questioned what amounts to a media trial of a minister and the PNCR's contribution to the unfolding anti-Gajraj media campaign.

The source said the President might have been referring to the placards displayed by supporters of the PNCR that attempt to condemn the Home Affairs Minister before a formal investigation had pronounced on the allegations against him.