Gov’t expects DPP to review ‘political’ private charges against ministers

Attorney-General Basil Williams

Attorney-General Basil Williams SC yesterday said government expects Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack to review the “political” private charges brought by opposition members against ministers Volda Lawrence and Dr. George Norton, while warning that to tolerate an abuse of the court process could open the floodgates for more.

“It is an aberration to the rule of law, an insult to good governance and an abuse of the process of the court to allow such unsubstantiated recourse to our justice system based solely on malice, whim and caprice and no evidence of criminality on the part of the Ministers, Ms. Volda Lawrence and Dr. George Norton, contended by the investigatory and prosecutorial agencies of the State,” Williams told a press conference in the boardroom of the Attorney General’s Chambers, where he read from a prepared statement.

“To countenance partisan, political, private criminal charges coming out of Freedom House is a recipe for returning Guyana to the status of a failed narco-state as it was under presidents [Bharrat] Jagdeo and [Donald] Ramotar,” he added.