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  • 1 year ago
Despite the laying of the final Stanley John report into the missing file which allowed nine accused men to walk away with twenty million dollars, the crucial question remains unanswered.

The public still does not know how the file went missing as that part of the report was, well, missing.
Transcript
00:00Almost five years after a file mysteriously disappeared in the
00:03Melissa's prosecution case of the nine men accused of murdering Vindra Naipaul
00:08Kuhlman and $625,000 paid for a probe, the million-dollar question as to how
00:15that file went missing remains unanswered. This is despite the Attorney
00:19General laying the 81-page final Stanley John report in the Senate today. The
00:25investigative team headed by the retired justice were given nine terms of
00:29reference. An interim report submitted in March of 2023 addressed the first
00:35three terms of reference. One, to inquire into the facts and circumstances
00:39relating to the missing file. Two, to inquire into the role or roles played by
00:45any minister, member of the civil law department or the office of the AG and
00:50Ministry of Legal Affairs in the management of the file. And three, if
00:54there was any dereliction of duty, violation, conflict of interest and or
01:00breach of trust on the part of those persons. But that interim report was not
01:05laid in the upper house today and remains classified. The final report
01:10addresses terms of reference four to nine and though the interim report was
01:15annexed, government did not lay it alongside the body of the full report.
01:21The missing file in question led to the state's failure to file a defense in the
01:25matter and caused the court to award $20 million to the nine accused in the
01:30militia's prosecution case. We contacted the Attorney General to verify if the
01:35omission was in fact an error but he did not up to news time respond to our query.
01:41And while the public may not know how the original voluminous thousands of
01:46pages file went missing, the investigative team however noted the
01:51Solicitor General's neglect to request copies of the documents filed during the
01:55period the matter was ongoing. The report reads, quote, had that been done and the
02:01Solicitor General's department had actively participated in the claim for
02:05militia's prosecution, there is every likelihood that the outcome of the
02:10matter would have been significantly different and may not have reached the
02:14stage of assessment of damages. This demonstrates the lack of initiative
02:19within the civil law department and reinforces the need for urgent reform,
02:23end quote. This as the Solicitor General is the official receiver of originating
02:29court documents to be served on the Attorney General relating to any civil
02:33proceedings initiated against the AG or to which the AG is a party or third
02:39party. Relative to the latter terms of reference, the Stanley John investigation
02:44quote, has not found any facts, circumstances or evidence which in our
02:49opinion may give rise to show or establish the commission of any
02:54disciplinary offense by any officer in the judicial and legal services relating
02:59to the management and conduct of the file. Similarly, it did not find any
03:05evidence that a criminal or fraudulent act occurred. Among the recommendations,
03:10the team questioned whether the Office of the Registrar General should continue
03:13to be a part of the civil law department or not and suggested the urgent strong
03:19need for chambers management in the civil law department. Additionally, that
03:24the government's thrust towards digital transformation must not pass the civil
03:29law department. The Stanley John investigative team was appointed in
03:33February of 2023. The interim report was submitted in March of 2023 and the
03:39final in June of 2023. In December of 2024, Attorney General Reginald Moore,
03:45Senior Counsel, announced the report would be made public following an FOIA
03:50application brought by Siobhan Peters, one of the former accused. Peters'
03:55application was brought through Freedom Law Chambers, the law office of former
04:00Attorney General Anne-Fran Logan, Senior Counsel. Ravishi Tomori, Ruknarine TV6 News.
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