Commissioner is being made a scapegoat – ALP

St John's, Antigua: Defence of Commissioner, Vere Browne, is being blamed for the procedural error, which has nullified the appointment of Guyanese Sanjeev Datadin as a special constable to assist in the IHI fraud investigation according to a report in the Antigua Observer. Both, the Attorney General, Justin Simon, and Minister of National Security, Dr. Errol Cort, said, on Monday, that the matter had been the purview of the police, primarily the commissioner.

But now a release from the opposition Antigua Labour Party (ALP) is laying the blame for the entire fiasco on Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer and is calling on him to “now tell the nation whether he knew and approved Datadin’s underhanded appointment…While these government ministers are making a scapegoat of the Commissioner of Police, Vere Browne, for the wrongful appointment, he would hardly have appointed Prime Minister Spencer’s personal lawyer without some instruction”.

Meanwhile, Senior Counsel Anthony Astaphan, an attorney who has represented members of the Antigua Labour Party (ALP) in numerous matters, agrees with the ALP’s assessment and said the illegal swearing in, coupled with previous statements by politicians in the UPP administration, makes him certain the party was involved in recommending Datadin.