THE two local senior counsel who advised former attorney general Faris Al-Rawi on the written indemnity agreement with Vincent Nelson, KC, in exchange for information on alleged corrupt legal-briefs deals with former attorney general Anand Ramlogan and ex-UNC senator Gerald Ramdeen, are tight-lipped on the now-controversial affair.
On Thursday, Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes and Gilbert Peterson declined to comment when contacted.
“For reasons of which you are well aware, I have no comment,” Mendes told Newsday, while Peterson’s response was, “I cannot comment on work for any client. The client is free to comment.”
Both men were asked about their views on the current state of affairs surrounding the agreement and if, in hindsight, the brokering of such a deal was a mistake.
They were also asked if the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had been consulted before the agreement was made between Nelson and the Government.
[caption id="attachment_788000" align="alignnone" width="1024"] File photo: Gilbert Peterson[/caption]
On Wednesday, Al-Rawi said he did not advise himself on preparing the indemnity agreement.
He said the arrangement was made after the AG's Office hired the two senior counsel in 2017 when Nelson came forward with the information of the alleged criminal conspiracy to defraud the State
“Senior counsel Mr Mendes specifically settled a written indemnity agreement that he advised the State to enter into, and under that written indemnity agreement, the specific context was that the notarised statement and the evidence of wrongdoing will be given to the Director of Public Prosecutions and to the Anti-Corruption Investigations Bureau.
'In that indemnity statement as well, the State undertook, on the advice of senior counsel, that no civil proceedings will be commenced for the recovery of legal fees that were paid to Mr Nelson,' Al-Rawi said.
On Monday, DPP Roger Gaspard, SC, announced the State was discontinuing the charges against former attorney general Anand Ramlogan, SC, and ex-UNC senator Gerald Ramdeen.
He said Nelson was not willing to give evidence in that matter until his claim for breach of the alleged indemnity agreement came to an end.
Nelson has since asked for his claim, assigned to Justice Jacqueline Wilson, to be unsealed so its contents can be made available to the public. He is asking for £12.1 million in damages for the alleged breach of the indemnity agreement and for the State to indemnify him for the $2.5 million fine ordered by the high court when he was sentenced in March 2020.
Al-Rawi said Mendes and Peterson had since advised him Nelson’s claim “was doomed to fail.”
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