…Attorney Nigel Hughes
On Tuesday afternoon, Chairman of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and former Minister of Health, Volda Lawrence voluntarily entered the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) with her attorney, Nigel Hughes, and was arrested though she poses no threat to the ongoing investigation into electoral fraud.
Lawrence, who was present at the Ashmin’s Building/Region Four Command Center subsequent to the breakdown in the tabulation of Region Four Statement of Polls (SOPs) for the March Elections, was detained in relation to the activities which took place at the building which are being tied to attempted electoral fraud.
Exiting the CID, Hughes was in possession of Lawrence’s personal items which she asked him to return to her family. At the time, he was unable to tell the media whether she would be questioned or charged as this information was not relayed to him by the police. Hughes said that he requested Lawrence’s release as she posed no threat to the investigation but the police had no interest in this.
“As you well know, the basis on which you should arrest and detain people is if their custody is necessary to protect the investigation. At this stage, the detention of Ms. Lawrence is certainly not necessary either to protect the investigation — there’s no suggestion that she’s likely to interfere with the course of the investigation and clearly you can arrive at your own conclusions as to why they would want to detain her,” Hughes told the media.
He said that he imagines that how Lawrence will be treated will be similar to that of Deputy Chief Elections Officer (DCEO), Roxanne Myers who was kept in the Beterverwagting Police Station for three days.
“Ms. Lawrence has indicated that she believes that this is part of an orchestrated plan to detain her and all the other natural consequences of that,” he said. The Attorney also noted that Lawrence, detained amid the COVID-19 pandemic, has disclosed her “medical condition” to the police.
Outside the CID, scores of supporters gathered in support of Lawrence whom they believe is being wrongfully prosecuted. Lawrence is already facing private criminal charges for allegedly conspiring to forge documents to show a win for the APNU+AFC at the March 2nd general elections. The charges were filed by Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr.
