Manning ordered SIA head to illegally spy on citizens: AG Ramlogan

Former Prime Minister Patrick Manning instructed the fired head of the SIA, Nigel Clement, to spy on people using illegal wiretapping.

Attorney General Anand Ramlogan told the Senate Tuesday that is what Clement told him. He said he wanted the country to know that the information came from the head of the SIA.

"I want to tell the nation because it is being peddled that maybe Mr Manning didn't know...the head of the SIA informed us from the horse's mouth that he took instructions for certain wiretaps from the then Prime Minister, to whom he reported back," Ramlogan said during debate on the new wiretapping bill.

He said he wondered "what manner of man is this?" when he heard Manning disavow any and all knowledge about that the illegal operation. 

"You authorised it, you instructed it, you wanted it and now you want to wash your hands clean and hang them out to dry. The nation is not that stupid," Ramlogan said.

He said this information that Manning was directly involved surfaced when a committee chaired by National Security Minister Brigadier John Sandy met with Clement prior to Clement's dismissal. Ramlogan, Legal Affairs Minister Prakash Ramadhar and Justice Minister Herbert Volney were at that meeting as members of the committee.

Ramlogan suggested that the SIA head would not be so bold as to tap the President's phone, and those of judges and political opponents, without the knowledge of the Prime Minister at the time. 

He wondered what were the suspected crimes of PNM MPs Keith Rowley or Donna Cox, whose phones were also tapped.

The AG said when Manning became Prime Minister after the 18-18 tie in the 2001 general election he acquired sophisticated Israeli interception equipment. He said Manning gave the Special Anti-Crime Unit (SAUTT) and SIA all the resources and billions of dollars although they were operating illegally.

Ramlogan also charged that the SIA was spying on his clients who had cases pending against Manning and the People's National Movement (PNM). 

They included Sat Maharaj of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha, Inshan Ishmael, Marlene Coudray and Devant Maharaj. "The integrity of the judicial system may have been under threat," Ramlogan said.