‘Glaring conflict of interest’

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…Nigel Hughes writes DPP to revoke  Datadin’s appointment as prosecutor of election cases 
…threatens a review of her actions if no action taken

Attorney-at-Law, Nigel Hughes has formally written to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack requesting that she revoke the appointment of People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Member of Parliament (MP) and Attorney-at-Law, Sanjeev Datadin as special prosecutor into the ongoing election fraud cases or a review of her action will be sought.

Last Friday it was disclosed that the DPP had granted fiat for six attorneys to prosecute the cases brought against Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield and Deputy CEO, Roxanne Myers by the police. This information came to the fore the very day the DPP withdrew private criminal charges against Lowenfield. The attorneys granted fiat are Sanjeev Datadin, who will head the team, Glenn Hanoman, Ganesh Hira, George Thomas, Mark Conway and Perry Gosai.

However, Hughes had objected to Datadin’s involvement as he has direct association with the PPP/C which has openly expressed its position on Lowenfield and Myers. A reliable source informed Village Voice Guyana that Hughes wrote to the DPP informing her that the matters at hand are highly political and to involve Datadin would be a breach of the Code of Conduct set out for legal practitioners.

In the letter, Hughes pointed the DPP to Rule VII 13 of the Code of Conduct which is located in the Fourth Schedule of the Legal Practitioners (Amendment Act) 2010. It states: “When an Attorney at law is engaged as a prosecutor, his prime duty is not to seek to convict, but to place the facts dispassionately before the Court, and to see that justice is done through a fair trial upon the merits.”

Hughes has also pointed the DPP to remarks made by Datadin regarding Lowenfield and Myers on May 4, 2020 on which occasion he made clear his bias. “What happens if a Polling Clerk made an error and did not cross off all the names who voted or was having lunch and missed a name? How is this to be resolved? Do we trust Mingo and his gringos to resolve it? Do we expect [CEO, Keith] Lowenfield and [DCEO, Roxanne] Myers to get an attack of morality and resolve it fairly?” Datadin had stated.

The PPP/C MP has also stated that Guyanese people remain hostage to the actions of the Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, referring to his declaration as “fantasy numbers”. The source stated that Hughes pointed out that Ali-Hack ‘s appointment of Datadin on the case is in breach of the professional obligations imposed on the DPP’s Office and called on her to revoke Datadin’s appointment on the basis that his political views will naturally prevent the fair presentation of the cases for a fair trial.

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