DIRECTOR of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shalimar Ali Hack has rejected statements in the media that suggested she failed to pronounce on charges against her lawyer and called on the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) to “focus on doing quality investigations” before sending files to her chambers for legal advice.
In a letter to the Editor, the DPP said, “This is a lie. The DPP’s Office has not had this file for three weeks,” in reference to the front page article published on page 3 of the Kaieteur News (KN) and captioned: “USS500M GBTI contempt charge… 3 weeks later, DPP still to pronounce on charges against her lawyer.”

“The first time the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) file in question was received at the DPP’s Chambers was on September 19,2O17. Legal advice was given on September 21, 2017 for further investigations to be conducted. The file was booked out from these chambers on the said September 21, 2017,” Ali Hack said.
The DPP said too that further investigations were conducted and SOCU returned the file to the DPP Chambers on October 12 for legal advice.
“The SOCU file is currently engaging the attention of these chambers. At no time did we have the file for three weeks and was falsely stated in the article. The DPP is not facing any major dilemma in this matter. This file will be treated like all other files and advice will be given based on the evidence contained in the file and the relevant law thereto as is done in all files,” the DPP stated in her letter to the press.

Ali Hack stressed that there is a constitutional mandate under which the work of her office is conducted and stressed that charges are based on evidence and not wild recommendations.
“In doing quality investigations, they must obtain the relevant evidence in relation to the ingredients of the offences they are investigating. After they have obtained the quality evidence, only then should a credible investigator recommend a charge. Once all the evidence is there to support the offence/offences being investigated, charges are recommended,” she declared.

The past few weeks have seen SOCU attempting to access bank records pertaining to the continuing probe into the Guyana Rice Development Board (GRDB); something GBTI is reluctant to produce. Last week, the bank in an advertisement carried in the daily press said that where the laws of Guyana conflict, it is the bank’s responsibility to “protect the interests of its customers,” thereby maintaining confidentiality.
It should be noted that Ali-Hack is being represented by GBTI’s Chairman Robin Stoby SC, in a separate matter.

Meanwhile, the DPP said the Criminal Justice System is receiving assistance from the Governments of Canada and the USA through the Justice Education Society (JES).
“The focus of this is to ensure there are quality investigations done and completed before charges are instituted. The objective of this is to control the backlog that the criminal justice system has been overburdened with for many years now. This overburdening is resulting in the miscarriage of justice,” she stated.