Not me…Greene distances self from bugging of Felix’s office

Police Commissioner Henry Greene yesterday issued a statement distancing himself from any suggestion that he had something to do with the bugging of the office of his predecessor Winston Felix.

Felix in an exclusive interview with this week’s Sunday Stabroek had suggested that his office could have been bugged when he was out of the country on official business and it was occupied by someone else. Felix provided no names.

Greene said he was hospitalized at the time that Felix left the country and later recuperated at home by which time the Police Commissioner had returned to the country.

Winston Felix

The bugging of the office resulted in a recording of Felix and PNCR executive Basil Williams being circulated. Felix says that the voice on the recording is not the issue but its editing which was done in a manner to distort the conversation. The recording was used to discredit Felix and he eventually left the force after reaching the retirement age.

Greene in his statement issued by the police force yesterday said:

“Cognisant of a statement attributed to retired Commis-sioner of Police Mr. Winston Felix and which was published in the Stabroek News of today Sunday November 06, 2011, in which he is quoted as saying that there is no doubt in his mind that a recording device was placed in his office and this had to be done while he was at a conference in January 2006 in another country and that “Somebody else occupied my office in my absence with my permission and whatever happened had to have happened then; I have no apologies to make”, I, Commissioner of Police Henry Greene DSS, DSM, wish to state that during Mr. Felix’s tenure as Commissioner I was the most senior Deputy Commissioner. I was in charge of Law Enforcement at CID Head-quarters and would usually act as Commissioner in the absence of then Commis-sioner Winston Felix.

Henry Greene

“During the month of January 2006 to which Mr. Felix refers, Mr. Felix did leave the country for a conference overseas with then Minister of Home Affairs Ms. Gail Teixeira. I cannot give the date nor which country as I am currently giving this release while out of office, but can do so on Tuesday.

“Prior to his departure I fell ill and was admitted a patient at the St. Joseph Mercy Hospital. I was admitted to the hospital in 2006 on a Sunday; the records of the hospital can prove this. During the time I was in hospital Commissioner Felix visited me in hospital and told me that he was leaving the country the next day. He also told me that in his absence Deputy Commissioner Sydney Bunbury would be in charge.

“I remained in hospital until Friday of the said week and I left the St. Joseph Mercy Hospital about mid-day on the said Friday. I went home and did not work until the following Monday.

“While I was home I was told that Mr. Felix had returned to the country. I think it was either the said Friday or Saturday morning.

“I resumed duty on the Monday and at no time between the Friday mid-day and the Monday when I resumed duty did I visit Mr. Felix’s office. I am saying that Mr. Winston Felix should be asked to say who is the person who occupied his office during January 2006 while he was overseas.

“If there are any further doubts I would recommend that those in authority investigate the dates of my hospitalization, the dates of Mr. Felix’s departure from and return to the country, and who would have utilized his office during that period. Mr. Felix would have had the benefit of a Personal Assistant and Secretaries who may be able to provide assistance in relation to any form of investigation or inquiry.
“I am prepared to stand the scrutiny of making public the results of any investigation launched.

“I stand by this statement which has been issued by the Public Relations Department of the Guyana Police Force.”

It is widely believed that convicted drug lord Roger Khan was the person behind the circulation of the controversial recording and that he had set out to find ways to compromise Felix. The recording was made available in March 2006 around the same time that the police and army launched an operation to flush out Khan. This resulted in Khan fleeing to Suriname where he was nabbed and apprehended by the US in Trinidad while he was ostensibly on his way back to Guyana.

In his interview with Stabroek News, Felix said that the Guyana Government was unaware that the police force planned to go after Khan and his cohorts in 2006 and was only advised of it after it had started. Felix said the reason for this was that he did not “want to fight the devil’s case in hell”. There has been widespread speculation that the Guyana Govern-ment had turned a blind eye to Khan’s drug activities because of the role he played in helping to take out suspected criminals. Khan had been first held by the army in 2002 with a cache of weapons and electronic surveillance equipment which it is believed he was using to track the five escapees from the Camp Street jail who had gone on a bloody crime spree. Khan was later freed of all charges.

In the interview with the Sunday Stabroek, Felix said that he is convinced that Khan was the person who arranged to make the tape recordings of him and others.

“But that tape could not have been produced by him alone; that tape must have been produced with the assistance of others. He had to have collaboration in various areas and from various people to make a recording like that.”

He said there is no doubt in his mind that a recording device was placed in his office and this had to be done while he was at a conference in January 2006 in another country.

“Somebody else occupied my office in my absence with my permission and whatever happened had to have happened then; I have no apologies to make,” Felix said.

And Felix admitted that he had turned to the US Embassy for assistance in ascertaining whether his office was bugged.