Sittlington not involved in SOCU operations – British High Commissioner clarifies
UK expert, Dr Sam Sittlington (left) in discussion with Head of SOCU, Sydney James. [Adrian Narine photo]
UK expert, Dr Sam Sittlington (left) in discussion with Head of SOCU, Sydney James. [Adrian Narine photo]

British High Commissioner to Guyana, Greg Quinn has sought to clarify the role of UK expert, Dr Sam Sittlington, who is based at the headquarters of the Guyana Police Force’s Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU).

In a statement issued to the media on Friday, Quinn responded directly to reports that Dr Sittlington was seen “celebrating” at the Oasis Café on Wednesday evening with a government official and other SOCU officials. The British High Commissioner claims that this is not true.

“Let me clarify the situation. Dr Sittlington is at SOCU in an advisory and training capacity and not in an operational role. I also understand that former Attorney General Hon. Anil Nandlall believes that High Commission staff were at the Oasis Cafe on Wednesday, however that was not the case.”

Dr Sittlington recently engaged members of the media through the fence at SOCU headquarters, where he provided clarification on the arrest and detention of those involved in the Pradoville 2 investigations.

According to Quinn, “In talking to the media Dr Sittlington was trying to be helpful in explaining the legal basis and rights on which SOCU took the actions they did. It would be wrong to interpret this as Dr Sittlington being involved in the investigations themselves. He was not.”

The British official also made it clear that Dr Sittlington’s current contract was funded by the British High Commission and was designed as a follow up to his work with SOCU last year.

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