— Munroe claims ‘jealous’ SOCU head was behind treason plot against him

RETIRED Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Major, Bruce Munroe, who was charged for treason in 2010, has accused head of Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU), Lieutenant Colonel (ret’d) Sydney James, of being behind the plot.

According to Munroe, James conspired to ensure his (Munroe’s) voice was placed on a recording that would later be used against him in court.

SOCU is currently under public scrutiny. Munroe said that it was James who allegedly sent the informant, former GDF officer who was dishonourably dismissed, Quincy Critchlow, to implicate him in a treason offence.

“That was the man who sent Quincy Critchlow to entrap us,” he said.

It was noted during the trial, that James provided Critchlow with the audio recording device to tape Munroe, in the alleged plot. It was on Benschop’s radio programme, Straight Up, that Bruce related that the bitterness between the two had quite a long history and while he never personally had an issue with James, jealousy played a bitter role in James trying to bring him down.

Munroe was progressing in rank and was sent on numerous training courses overseas.

The ‘David and Saul’ saga between the two started after ranks started to tantalise James that his junior rank, which was Munroe, was progressing faster than him and given more opportunities to travel.

According to Munroe, James thought he was the better candidate on two occasions. At that time James was the head of the Military Criminal Investigation Department (MCID).

“My reflection on this whole thing, seems as though it came years upon years of issues… i didn’t had issues with Mr. James but i think he had issues with me, going all the way back to 1996 into 97,” he said.

Munroe further related: “When these kinds of torment and tantalise come, I would always try to excuse myself and don’t get involved in those kinds of things and is things like these led up in those kind of bad relationships.”

The treason accused said he always felt uncomfortable around James and persons warned him of James’ capabilities. It was when the trial got to its climax, then it was all unfolding, the role James allegedly played in the entire saga.

LIKED GLORY

James boldly testified against Munroe and vehemently asserted throughout the testimony that he was guilty of treason. His informant, Critchlow, Munroe said, was a person who always liked glory and was in need of money, after he was kicked out of the army. He said he even approached him to assist him in looking for a job.

James appeared multiple times on the stand and gave evidence to the nature that the accused were purportedly plotting to use explosives and other materials of a violent and destructive nature to disassemble the then Jagdeo regime.

They were reportedly halted before the commencement of their scheme after they had been reported by Critchlow who alerted the relevant authorities with a recording on their plot.

During cross-examination by Attorney Nigel Hughes, Critchlow admitted that he had been hired to set up three black people. He said he was told what questions he should ask the three persons during the taping of the conversations.

He, however, declined to name to names of who hired him.

When James took the stand, Munroe said, “I started to put two and two together… my wife and I started to hold our hand and started to pray.”

While everyone in the courtroom, including Bishop High School law students realised that there was no evidence against the Munroes, it was only James who kept his position that Munroe and the other accused were trying to overthrow the government.

At the time, Munroe said he and his wife started to muster confidence that no evidence was against them.

NO SUBSTANCE

“In the long run, we started to gain confidence that whatever he was saying had no bearing and no substance and somewhere down the line, we continued to pray and believe and we would be out of there and eventually, we did,” he said.

Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine- Beharry found the accused not guilty of the charge in 2012, as she cited that important elements necessary to support the charge were omitted.

Based on what the Constitution stipulates, it had to be clear what the treasonous acts were and would therefore deem the persons traitors.

According to the law, for the act of treason and the manifestation of the intention, in other words, there must be an act, an overt one at that, where it clearly shows what the persons would have done to be treasonous. In this case, this was not done.

James was sworn in as head of SOCU, in September of 2014, under the previous administration, after he gave the testimony in the treason case.

He also testified in the CoI into the death of Dr. Walter Rodney. SOCU is a special police unit that probes corruption and money laundering. An audit into the misuse of operational funds at SOCU was recently conducted following instructions from Commissioner of Police Leslie James.

The audit has reportedly uncovered serious irregularities, including the falsification of records. Since the APNU- AFC took office, SOCU was given the role to investigate fraudulent conversion of state assets under the previous administration. While a number of PPP officials were charged, none has been convicted to date.

Meanwhile, the Munroes are calling for an apology and compensation from the PPP administration and those responsible for their trumped up treason charge. As a result of their ordeal, Mrs. Munroe said her family has been through a roller coaster, more so financially and since then, they never recovered.

“We have never recovered; it is always a struggle from that day forth. They could have apologised, I felt if they had given a public apology, I would have felt good and my wife would have felt good, if our names were publicly cleared from this wrong doing, or so- called wrong doing. I’m sure it would have gained them more respect,” Mrs. Munroe said.

While their wounds remain fresh, Mrs. Munroe said that an apology is what they deserve.