PM Kamla calls illegal spying a "dark and sinister side of governancne"

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar told the House of Representatives on Friday she now has proof that her predecessor, Patrick Manning, was spying on her and her political colleagues as well as members of the judiciary, the media, trade unions and even Manning’s own party members.

“Very recently I indicated to the country that I believed that the former administration was intercepting private conversations of citizens, including my own. I now know this to be true,” she said.

Persad-Bissessar noted that the unregulated and unauthorised interception of communication of citizens without the people’s consent through the Parliament is contrary to democracy and represents “a dark and sinister side of governance and is symptomatic of a creeping dictatorship”.

She said several security agencies with the capacity to intercept communications were operating under the Manning regime with authorisation by Cabinet “to intercept private communications of unsuspecting, innocent citizens in circumstances where it is not at all clear what the justification was.”

She said initially she thought that the eavesdropping was done only by the special SAUTT agency that Manning had established without ever getting Parliamentary approval for it. She reminded MPs that when she fired former director of SAUTT Brigadier Peter Joseph she thought the government had fixed the problem.

Then she discovered – about two weeks ago – that there was another spy agency, the Security Intelligence Agency (SIA). 

She said at that time she learned that “sensitive information obtained via illegal wire tapping of government ministers phones was being supplied to a certain MP from the opposition bench.”

She did not name the person but added, “That MP, now sits in this honourable House and served the highest level in government under the previous administration.”

Persad-Bissessar said she alerted Police Commissioner Gibbs to investigate the matter. “Experts were flown in from Canada and a high level team from the special branch of the police service moved in at 6:15am on Saturday 23rd October, 2010 and took control of the operations of the SIA,” she told MPs.

“The investigation conducted by the police service revealed a frightening picture involving and financial impropriety and illegal wire tapping of a wide cross-section of civil society.

“Reports from the Special Branch indicate that the SIA was a virtual law unto itself. It reported directly to the Minister of National security and the Prime Minister. There are serious concerns about accountability and transparency.

“Special branch officers found $5.9 million dollars in cash and an undisclosed quantity of firearm and ammunition were seized. Initial audit reports reveal that some $15 million cannot be accounted for,” the Prime Minister said.

She added that evidence suggests that “a massive sanitization operation took place after the general elections…records of taped conversations and transcription of conversations have been removed and/or destroyed. We may never know all of the persons whose right to privacy was compromised by the unlawful intrusion of wiretapping.”

She said in the circumstances, she advised the President to revoke the appointment of Nigel Clements, the director of the Strategic Service Agency (SSA) and the Secret Intelligence Agency (SIA).

The Prime Minister added that Commissioner Gibbs is now conducting a financial audit into the operations of the SIA. At the same time she said all the equipment used for the illegal activity would now be properly utilized to assist in the fight against crime.

“It is my hope therefore that the police service will now be able to benefit fully from criminal intelligence that can be lawfully gathered by these agencies,” she said.