P.U.P. says it will seek judicial review if no action by the ComPol

Anthony Sylvestre

The letter to ComPol Whylie, delivered on Monday, gives a deadline of seven days by which he is asked to take action. The timing is critical because there is a statute limitation of six months for the summary offence of which Penner is being accused. Legal Advisor Anthony Sylvestre told the media today that the Party is prepared to aggressively pursue this matter if the Commissioner is slow or unwilling to act.

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Anthony Sylvestre, Legal Advisor, P.U.P.

“Failing a response by next week, the seventeenth, we would have to in earnest file judicial review proceedings before the end of next week. I must say that certain viewers will recall that a similar judicial review application was done back in 2007. You may recall that a mentally challenged individual was killed in a house in Los Lagos. I think the gentleman’s name was Mr. Gordon. At the time the Police did their investigation, gathered evidence, but they refused to charge anyone because the person involved was a fellow Police officer. The DPP at the time was Kirk Anderson, and he had given the directive for the Police to have charged the Police Officer. That directive was flatly refused, so what happens is that the family of Mr. Gordon obtained the services of an attorney and they went to court. At that time the Chief Justice was Dr. Abdulai Conteh. That story ended happily because the Commissioner of Police at the time folded and he did what he was sworn to do under law and he actually laid charges against that individual. The parallels are similar. It is clear to all and sundry that an offence has been committed but none of us can actually go and lay charges against Mr. Penner so we therefore have to urge the relevant and appropriate authority which is the Police Department. A letter has been copied to the Director of Public Prosecutions because as you are well aware she constitutionally has the authority with respect to prosecutions and so she at some point will be involved, or will be called upon to give advice.”

News Five contacted Commissioner of Police Allen Whylie for comment today. He declined an interview, stating that he was out of office. But he claimed that he has not seen the letter so could not comment on it.