Lawyers call for access to key documents for Rodney inquiry

Key witness, former Guyana Defence Force Chief of Staff Norman McLean rising to enter the witness stand during yesterday’s proceedings.

By Desilon Daniels

 

A strong call for the provision of key documents prior to hearings for the ongoing Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the death of Walter Rodney was made yesterday following the almost non-existent paper trail.

Canadian lawyer Selwyn Pieters, who is looking into the interest of Guyana Trades Union Congress’s (GTUC) before the commission, suggested the requesting of files from the army and that these documents should be made available to all lawyers days before they are to be used. He also pointed out that witnesses’ statements are also not being handed over in a timely fashion.

Pieters noted that former army chief Major General (retired) Norman Mc Lean, who testified yesterday, could not possibly answer all questions related to the matter 34 years later. “If there are records that exist,” Pieters said, “then let them be produced.”

These requests were made in the final hour of yesterday’s proceedings, following McLean’s testimony.

In response to his suggestion, Commissioner Jacqueline Samuels-Brown informed those gathered that a request had already been