Noting that the law should be allowed to take its course, Attorney General Anil Nandlall today said the Local Government Minister Nigel Dharamlall, who is at the center of a rape investigation involving a school girl, is innocent until proven guilty.

Addressing the controversial issue during his televised programme ‘Issues in the News’ on Tuesday, the Attorney General said the allegation remains under active investigation, and the embattled minister is entitled to due process.

“Mr Dharamlall as a citizen is accorded certain constitutional and legal safeguards by the highest of our laws – the Constitution. He is accorded certain facilities, he is presumed innocent like every other citizen of this country, and the investigative arm of the State must be allowed, free from any form of pressure to conduct its investigatory role and functions,” Minister Nandlall said.

The Opposition, and a number of civil society organizations including the Amerindian Peoples Association and Red Thread, have been mounting protest actions locally and internationally, calling for the embattled minister to be removed from public office, and importantly, for there to be fair investigation into the allegations levelled against the minister by a 16-year-old school girl.

However, the Attorney General is of the opinion that the daily protests amount to inference.

But even as he brushed aside the plethora of concerns raised by the protestors, Nandlall assured that the process outlined in the country’s Criminal Justice System is being “scrupulously” followed.

“Mr Nigel Dharamlall is a colleague of ours in the Government, and he is also a citizen of Guyana. In both capacities, he is entitled to certain due processes. Those due processes as enshrined in our administrative protocols, in our legal statutes, in our criminal processes, are being pursued and are being carried out. They will not be influenced one way or another by virtue of the fact that Mr Dharamlall is a minister or it will be compromised in any form or fashion because politicians would like a particular outcome,” Minister Nandlall said.

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), upon reviewing the file on the rape allegations against Minister Dharamlall, has instructed the Guyana Police Force to conduct further investigation into the allegation.

Ahead of handing down that instruction, the Office of the DPP, in a statement on Tuesday, said that it will not be intimidated by individuals who profess to want justice in a criminal matter even while a police file is being given due legal attention. Urging the public to desist from politicizing an alleged criminal offence, the DPP said “all statements or evidence must be considered before legal advice is given to the Guyana Police Force.”

The DPP’s statement has found favour with the Government, with the Attorney General applauding the decision of the Chamber to speak out against the protestors. He said like DPP, the Childcare and Protection Agency is following due process as provided for under the Childcare and Protection Agency Act.

The Childcare and Protection Agency, according to the Attorney General, is being provided with legal advice by the Solicitor General, Nigel Hawke. Minister Nandlall said as the Attorney General, he is not involved in the matter.

Government, he assured, is following protocols as it treats with the very sensitive issue.

“I want to assure that the Government is complying with all the standard operating procedures and the state apparatus is complying with all the standard operating procedures in this matter, and the Government is not intervening. The government has no role to play,” he emphasized.

Grilled on the issue on Tuesday, President Ali said the Administration will decide on the way forward with regards to Mr Dharamlall’s role as a Minister based on the outcome of the investigation and whether or not he is criminally charged. In the interim, he remains on administrative leave. The victim, on the other hand, remains in protective care.

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