…tries to defend approving own gun licences

By Ariana Gordon and Zena Henry

OUTGOING Commissioner of Police Seelall Persaud was on Wednesday flayed for bypassing the Firearm Licensing Board when he attempted to grant himself a licence to open a firearm dealership as well as an upgrade of the calibre of weapons he is allowed to carry.

The commissioner, however, sought to defend his decision, saying this was done by his predecessors. Persaud told reporters just after his farewell parade held at the Police Sports Club, Eve Leary, that he simply followed precedents set by previous Police Commissioners. “If you look historically you would see that over the last 25 years, all the Commissioners, maybe with the exception of one, granted themselves firearm licences. This is not anything new,” declared the police commissioner who added “you know we live in a society today where one set of circumstances is good for one person but not good for the other.”

However, former Minister of Home Affairs under the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Clement Rohee on Facebook on Tuesday begged to differ. Rohee, in response to the story initially published by the Guyana Chronicle said, “As regards issuing himself a licence to be a firearm dealer, that should have gone through the Firearm Licensing Approval Board located at the MOPS for the Board’s as well as his subject Minister’s consideration, just as it was done when I served in that capacity.” “In fact, his application for a private firearm licence should have also gone through the Board as well, in the interest of transparency and accountability. Better yet, he should have had a word with the President and his subject minister on his intentions,” Rohee continued. The former Home Affairs Minister opined that while Persaud may have been fearful that his applications would not have been approved, given that he is already in the bad books” he should have acted differently.

Rohee’s comments were echoed by former Police Commissioner, now serving as Minister of Citizenship, Winston Felix. Felix told Guyana Chronicle that where there exists a gun licensing board, the Commissioner ought to have gone through the relevant process to acquire approval. Felix said too that during his tenure as police commissioner, there was no licensing Board in place and the power was vested in the Police Commissioner to issue approvals. The former Top Cop said when his tenure ended in 2006; no gun licensing board was in place, so in his case, he issued himself the approval. “But now in 2018, there is a Board, a Board is in place and he is not the final authority. It cannot be the same thing, he (Persaud) did not notify the board,” Felix asserted.

As it relates to the firearm dealership licence, Persaud told reporters that in the 1980s, a Commissioner of Police granted himself a dealership licence. “So there is precedent…However, I was discouraged to go along that line of business, so I won’t pursue that.” When questioned why he applied for the licence in January 2018, just a month prior to his retirement, Persaud said “Because the business will only start when I retire; that will be during May.”

“There is precedent – and like I said, it is a business …I can’t do business on the job…so it will only be operationalised after I retire,” he explained, reiterating that there was nothing wrong with what he did.

“No, there is precedent for it…it happened with all the commissioners. Something is wrong with this commissioner that they tell the public that it is wrong?”

REVOKED

The dealership licence has since been revoked by Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan. The Police Commissioner who will retire as of Monday, March 5, said he has no feelings with respect to the revocation of the licence he granted himself. “I am neutral. It doesn’t matter—that was one line of business I was contemplating and that won’t happen any longer, but I have a lot of experience, credibility…I am very confident in my next phase of life,” said Persaud. Asked whether he would be challenging the revocation, he said, “I am saying I am very, very comfortable. If things are significant I challenge; it is not significant. I don’t think I would pursue that – I have lots of other options.”

Meanwhile, when asked to comment on the issue, the Public Security Minister said he had nothing to say on the issue and that the media “should have a time and place”. Persaud, who served within the Guyana Police Force for 33 years, in a letter dated January 29, 2018 and seen by this newspaper, in response to an application written by himself said “Dear Sir, I refer to your application in relation to the above subject and wish to inform you that approval is granted for your business Professional Outdoors Supplies to become a registered Firearms Dealer.”

Persaud further wrote “Please make contact with the Assistant Commissioner Law Enforcement at the Criminal Investigation Department Headquarters, in connection with the issuing of the licence.”

In another letter dated January 26, 2018 and captioned “Application for firearm licences, Mr Seelall Persaud (DSM) wrote to himself “Dear Mr Persaud, I refer to your application in relation to the above subject and wish to inform you that approval is granted for you to be issued with firearm licences to use (1) 9MM Pistol, (1) 12, 16 or 20-Gauge Pump Action Shotgun.”

In the same missive, Persaud wrote to himself saying, “Please make contact with the Divisional Commander ‘A’ Division at the divisional headquarters, Brickdam, in connection with: the issuing of the licences and the conditions under which the licences are granted.” The police chief’s letter to himself added: “You are advised to ensure that there is adequate means of security for the firearms when they are in use.” He further advised himself that “If you neglect to proceed expeditiously to obtain the necessary licences within one year, then you may be denied same if the conditions under which you were granted this approval have changed.”