(Trinidad Express) Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley yesterday apologised unreservedly for his statements made on Tuesday on the Ish Galbaransingh and Steve Ferguson extradition matter.
The apology comes one day after the judiciary chastised Rowley for what it described as “an unjustified attack against the judge” and expressed “its abhorrence of the innuendoes by the Opposition Leader of collusion between the judge and, by extension, the judiciary and the Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago in the decision which was arrived at and handed down in the court”.
At a news conference on Tuesday, Rowley was asked if Justice Ronnie Boodoosingh’s judgment, in which he quashed the decision to extradite Galbaransingh and Ferguson, was a defeat for Attorney General Anand Ramlogan. The Opposition Leader stated then: “I wouldn’t term it a defeat for the Attorney General…if there is any defeat, it is for justice in Trinidad and Tobago”.
However, at a news conference yesterday at his Charles St office, Rowley said when he made that statement, he was taking no issue with Justice Boodoosingh, whose “excellently written and reasoned judgment clearly identified the very material shortcomings of this Attorney General—which he ultimately viewed to be so serious as to quash the Attorney General’s decision as to extradition without inviting him to reconsider same”.
Rowley apologised twice during the news conference. He said: “Nothing that I said was aimed at or intended to be directed at the learned judge Boodoosingh or the judiciary. In as much as any construct, interpretation or representation can be, or has been made to the effect that I have, or intended to cast any aspersion, innuendo or insinuation on the conduct of the learned judge, I am deeply distressed and saddened by this development and apologise unreservedly to the judge and the entire judiciary, a body for which I have the highest regard and in which I place the deepest trust in its competence and independence.”
Rowley said his comments on the matter on Tuesday were directed solely and specifically to the political directorate, particularly the Attorney General, “who as a politician, peddles his wares in my arena”.
“If any citizen in this country, could, even at the personal level, attest to the independence of the judiciary in Trinidad and Tobago, I am that person; a view that I have hitherto championed and continue to do so now without reservation,” he said. He added he is on record as saying it is the country’s good fortune to have, especially at this time, the institution of a fiercely independent and a highly competent judiciary, which is prepared to stand as bulwark between the people and the excesses of a rampant government… “and I continue to stand by those views”.
He added that this was the foundation of his unwavering support for the establishment of the Caribbean Court of Justice. “It is in this context that I am deeply disappointed that I was not able to present my comments about the Attorney General and the political directorate with sufficient clarity, so as to ensure that no disquiet could arise as expressed in the cautionary response of the judiciary”, he said.
On the matter of the “timely” connection between the judgment and the ending of the curfew, Rowley said he was speaking about the “opportunistic action of the Prime Minister, a political action on her part which could have been executed to take advantage of the effect of the judgment, a matter of guaranteed widespread public debate. This comment had absolutely nothing to do with the action of the judge of the timing of the judgment”, he stressed.
“Out of an abundance of caution and with due deference and respect to the judiciary…and to the Honourable Mr Justice Boodoosingh, in particular, I wish to repeat my unreserved apology for any misunderstanding and/ or perceived injury which may have been caused by the commentary on my utterances,” the Opposition Leader said.
