Dear Editor,

I HAVE been following closely, news reports surrounding the deaths of three persons in a vehicular accident, two of whom were in one vehicle giving chase to the neighbour of “on leave” chief executive of NICIL, Winston Brassington.

Initially, I supported the reported view of President David Granger that this chain of events did not warrant any full- scale probe. However, having read the statement of the young lady who is the wife of a sitting opposition parliamentarian, I am now in favour of a full- scale probe and would recommend that one be carried out sooner rather than later.

While this surveillance operation pales into insignificance in comparison to the operations of the phantom squad and its hundreds of alleged murders under the previous administration, about which there has been no independent probe, the raison d’être for my support for an independent probe of this recent operation,  is that this new government has promised change. From reading Ms. Rambarran’s account of what took place that fateful night, there could be no other conclusion that this surveillance operation was clumsy, unprofessional and tactically, if not legally, flawed. It must be investigated so as to avoid any recurrence of such unprofessionalism.
I have  a few questions: first of all, why would there be surveillance of Brassington’s home? If there is reasonable belief that documents are at his home, then why not get a search warrant and conduct a search? It is well known that Brassington and his family have left Guyana legally, reportedly on vacation and the authorities had to have known that.

How could intelligence sleuths not be armed with accurate information about the exact location of Brassington’s home? If they suspect a link between Brassington and parliamentarian Ramson, who was himself abroad at the time of the operation, why was a search warrant not sought for Ramson’s home?

Now this was supposed to be a surveillance operation. My understanding of surveillance operations is that the operatives observe and report without approaching their targets. Why were the two targets approached by these operatives, while failing to show any identification that they were law- enforcement officers? Why were they asked to wait until “the boss” turned up?” Was the boss bringing an arrest warrant? Why were they chased? If on official duty, why was the GDF intelligence operative’s wife in the car? He was not going to a cocktail party, was he?

Many things aren’t right about this operation. My sympathy to the relatives of all those who lost their lives. These lives should never have been lost. This is recklessness of the highest order. Who gave the instructions for this surveillance operation? This person should be held accountable.

Regards,
Wesley Kirton