The lead investigator of the team assigned to Guyana by CARICOM’s Regional Security System (RSS) to review the investigation of the murder of Ricardo ‘Paper Shorts’ Fagundes is in Guyana and has started work, government sources have confirmed.
Sources told Stabroek News that while a team comprising members from different RSS countries will be working on the assessment that has been requested, only the lead is currently in the country but he is being provided with support from the others virtually. If need be, more personnel will travel to Guyana.
“The team is here. Total review underway,” Minister of Home Affairs Robeson Benn told Stabroek News yesterday when asked for an update.
On Monday, President Ifraan Ali announced that he had reached out to the RSS which this country only signed on to in March of this year, for help in the investigations.
“I always said we are governing with transparency. Questions raised on the investigation. I reached out to RSS and we have asked them to send support and assess and evaluate what has taken place so far in this investigation and to give us their opinion,” Ali told reporters on the sidelines of an event on Monday.
“I just want us to deal with these challenges quickly so we can move forward,” he added.
“All aspects of the investigation,” including allegations made by Police Sergeant Dion Bascom that there was a deliberate attempt by the Guyana Police Force to cover up the crime, are being looked at, sources said.
The government’s decision to ask the RSS for assistance in the Fagundes murder probe comes in wake of mounting pressure for an international probe into the allegations made by Bascom about corruption involving senior members of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and a cover-up in the investigation.
Fagundes, who was a close friend of convicted drug trafficker Roger Khan, was riddled with bullets by two men outside of the Palm Court on the evening of Sunday, March 21, last year.
At the time of the attack, he was approaching a parked vehicle owned by Khan, who has stated his belief that he was the intended target.
To date, no one has been charged with the crime.
At a press conference last Wednesday, Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum denied claims of a cover-up in the Fagundes murder probe.
He also said the Guyana Police Force (GPF) was receiving assistance from an international law enforcement agency in the investigation. “Several foreign experts visited the CID headquarters that is during the initial stage of the probe and provided valuable assistance to our investigators,” Blanhum said.
He added that items recovered from the crime scene were sent overseas for analysis. The police are still awaiting the results.
Fagundes’ family recently said they believe the claims made by Bascom about a cover-up in the investigation and called on the relevant authorities to stop hiding the “truth”.
Advice
Meanwhile, sources say that President Ali is awaiting advice from his advisors on a protection request made by Bascom through his lawyer, Nigel Hughes.
Hughes wrote the president and requested protection under the Protected Disclosures Act as he informed that Bascom is prepared to testify under oath and he fears that his client’s life is in grave danger.
Bascom has publicly claimed a senior policeman was paid $30 million to bury the case and implicated others as being linked to the crime, prompting the threat of lawsuits. His lawyer said Bascom has also received threats to his life.
Bascom’s seeking of protection raised the matter as to why the mechanisms under the Protected Disclosures Act were not activated even though it was passed more than four years ago in 2018.
Not ruling out special protection for Bascom, the President has said that he has to first assess the case, but that the allocating of resources to ensure effective whistleblower’s legislation is a key matter for his administration.
“I wouldn’t say I’m against it [the protection sought by Dion Bascom], because I believe I have to see what is the content of the letter (from Bascom’s lawyer), what is the nature of what is really asked for. But as I said, this system or this country that I’m governing, must provide an even platform for everyone. It must provide a socially just platform for everyone. And in that context, I’ll make my decision,” he said.
