{"id":8864,"date":"2015-05-21T22:38:36","date_gmt":"2015-05-22T02:38:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/?p=8864"},"modified":"2015-05-22T08:37:35","modified_gmt":"2015-05-22T12:37:35","slug":"deputy-chairman-flabbergasted-over-end-to-emailgate-probe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/?p=8864","title":{"rendered":"IC Deputy Chairman Ventour Disagrees, Resigns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ventour disagrees with Emailgate statement…
\n\u2018Time to stand up\u2019<\/em><\/B><\/BIG><\/p>\n

By Renuka Singh
\nMay 21, 2015 – guardian.co.tt<\/A><\/I><\/p>\n

\"JusticeDeputy chairman of the Integrity Commission, retired Justice Sebastian Ventour, yesterday resigned, throwing the body into disarray yet again. <\/p>\n

In a telephone interview yesterday, Ventour, whose departure came a day after member Dr Shelly Anne Lalchan also quit, said he took the decision because he disagreed with the media release from the commission which had stated that the prolonged Emailgate investigation had been \u201cterminated.\u201d
\n
\n\u201cIt has everything to do with the statement that the investigations into the Emailgate matter has been terminated. I sent in my resignation today (yesterday). I am out,\u201d Ventour said. <\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the Integrity Commission wrote to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar\u2019s lawyer, Israel Khan, SC, informing him there was \u201cno or insufficient grounds\u201d to continue the probe. <\/p>\n

The commission\u2019s investigation was launched in 2013 after Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley read out a thread of email correspondence purported to be from key Government ministers, including Persad-Bissessar, former attorney general Anand Ramlogan, Minister of Works and Infrastructure Dr Suruj Rambachan, Housing Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal and then national security adviser Gary Griffith.<\/p>\n

Former commission chairman Ken Gordon had recused himself from the investigation and Ventour took charge. Ventour directed the commission US lawyers in their protracted battle with search engine Google Inc in a California court to obtain the relevant information on the email correspondence.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, he said he was taking a principled stand on the matter, hence his decision to resign.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to take a stand on principle, I have, or at least I hope I have, a penchant for doing what is right and what the Integrity Commission did was incorrect. What it said in the published statement was incorrect,\u201d Ventour said.<\/p>\n

He said the Emailgate investigation and the information the commission received involved just Persad-Bissessar and Ramlogan but said nothing about the other individuals also under investigation. As the matter was being investigated as a whole, there were still two outstanding investigations into other email addresses, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are with Hotmail. The matter, therefore, cannot be complete. We are saying that the matter is finished but with that information still outstanding it cannot be finished,\u201d Ventour added. <\/p>\n

Ventour said he had \u201ctaken an oath\u201d to do his duty and believed he owed it to the public to be honest.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I am asked if that decision was made against what I stand for, I can stand behind my words and I can stand behind the truth,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ventour did not want to comment on whether he believed his resignation on a principled stand implied that the commission had been compromised and said he could not comment on a meeting he had with chairman Zainool Hosein.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut yes we did have a meeting about this issue,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ventour said he hoped his resignation opened the eyes of people in T&T.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am hoping that people see it is time to stand up for what is just and what is right and fair. We must learn too that what is right is right,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ventour also refused to comment on whether his resignation implied that the rest of the commission was complicit with the details in its statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps they have a different view than I do but I would not comment on that. I would say that it is incorrect to say that it could finalise the Emailgate investigation when that is not true,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Asked whether he believed the Integrity Commission had become politicised by its letter closing the matter, Ventour said: \u201cI would not say that it is politicised but how on earth can you say that you are finished with the investigation when in fact that is not so?\u201d<\/p>\n

He accepted that he may now face criticism by Government supporters for resigning after Persad-Bissessar claimed the commission\u2019s letter had vindicated her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that will happen and I am prepared to deal with it. When you stand on truth there is nothing to fear,\u201d Ventour said.<\/p>\n

The T&T Guardian understands that the resignation letter, once submitted to the chairman, will be forwarded to President Anthony Carmon, who is expected to make a statement on the issue today.<\/p>\n

Gordon: Consensus needed<\/p>\n

Former Integrity Commission chairman Ken Gordon did not sound surprised when informed of Ventour\u2019s resignation yesterday.<\/p>\n

In a telephone interview, Gordon said he did have an idea that Ventour would have resigned and he gave some insight into how the commission operated in such matters.<\/p>\n

\u201cDocuments are normally prepared by the registrar but obviously the chair would have sight of the documents before it is sent out. He has to see the final package.<\/p>\n

\u201cNormally, the way it works is that the matter then comes before the commissioners for a discussion,\u201d he added<\/p>\n

Gordon said it was customary for all the sitting commissioners to discuss the matter and make their opinions known. He said there would always be times of disagreements and at those times the chair would go along with the prevailing view.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe chair could have a position that the others don\u2019t agree with, but a responsible chair would go with a general consensus. Some members may feel strongly enough about the matter that they take a principled stand and walk away with the rationale that they would rather leave than have their name associated with something,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

Also contacted yesterday, Persad-Bissessar\u2019s lawyer, Israel Khan, SC, said he was in court all day and was not aware Ventour had resigned.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know anything so how could I say something?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

When asked if he was concerned that Ventour\u2019s resignation overshadowed any claim to victory made by his client, Khan said nothing worried him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is Trinidad, I am not too concerned,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Khan said he did not know how the Integrity Commission operated and was not privy to its internal operations.<\/p>\n

When asked if Hosein ever worked in his chambers, Khan said: \u201cI just don\u2019t know anything about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gordon: Consensus needed<\/p>\n

Former Integrity Commission chairman Ken Gordon did not sound surprised when informed of Ventour\u2019s resignation yesterday.<\/p>\n

In a telephone interview, Gordon said he did have an idea that Ventour would have resigned and he gave some insight into how the commission operated in such matters.<\/p>\n

\u201cDocuments are normally prepared by the registrar but obviously the chair would have sight of the documents before it is sent out. He has to see the final package.<\/p>\n

\u201cNormally, the way it works is that the matter then comes before the commissioners for a discussion,\u201d he added<\/p>\n

Gordon said it was customary for all the sitting commissioners to discuss the matter and make their opinions known. He said there would always be times of disagreements and at those times the chair would go along with the prevailing view.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe chair could have a position that the others don\u2019t agree with, but a responsible chair would go with a general consensus. Some members may feel strongly enough about the matter that they take a principled stand and walk away with the rationale that they would rather leave than have their name associated with something,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

Also contacted yesterday, Persad-Bissessar\u2019s lawyer, Israel Khan, SC, said he was in court all day and was not aware Ventour had resigned.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know anything so how could I say something?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

When asked if he was concerned that Ventour\u2019s resignation overshadowed any claim to victory made by his client, Khan said nothing worried him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is Trinidad, I am not too concerned,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Khan said he did not know how the Integrity Commission operated and was not privy to its internal operations.<\/p>\n

When asked if Hosein ever worked in his chambers, Khan said: \u201cI just don\u2019t know anything about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Source: www.guardian.co.tt\/news\/2015-05-21\/%E2%80%98time-stand-up%E2%80%99<\/A><\/I><\/p>\n

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n

Integrity Commission ends emailgate probe Deputy chairman flabbergasted<\/B><\/BIG><\/p>\n

By Anna Ramdass
\nMay 21, 2015 – trinidadexpress.com<\/A><\/I><\/p>\n

Integrity Commission deputy chairman Justice Sebastian Ventour yesterday tendered his resignation saying he was “flabbergasted” with the Commission’s decision to terminate its investigation into Emailgate.<\/p>\n

Ventour invited the media to his St Joseph home yesterday after numerous requests for an interview. In the 19-minute interview he made it clear he was a man who stood on principle and could not stay with a Commission that misled the country.<\/p>\n

The Integrity Commission, which has a history of being plagued with controversies, now faces potential collapse as prior to Ventour’s resignation, another member, Dr Shelly-Anne Lalchan, tendered her resignation on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

However, when the Express visited Lalchan’s medical office at Endeavour Road, Chaguanas, yesterday, her relative said she was not prepared to speak at this time. He insisted that Lalchan’s resignation had nothing to do with Emailgate and it was a personal family issue that led to her decision.<\/p>\n

Ventour on the other hand had no qualms in speaking his mind and dared anyone to challenge his position.<\/p>\n

The retired High Court judge said the Commission did not sufficiently investigate Emailgate, adding that the content of the e-mails must also be looked into.<\/p>\n

He repeated that the letter sent to Israel Khan SC on May 19 was “incorrect” and he himself was surprised to learn about it as he saw it on television. <\/p>\n

Full Article : trinidadexpress.com<\/A><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ventour disagrees with Emailgate statement… \u2018Time to stand up\u2019 By Renuka Singh May 21, 2015 – guardian.co.tt Deputy chairman of the Integrity Commission, retired Justice Sebastian Ventour, yesterday resigned, throwing the body into disarray yet again. In a telephone interview yesterday, Ventour, whose departure came a day after member Dr Shelly Anne Lalchan also quit, … Continue reading IC Deputy Chairman Ventour Disagrees, Resigns<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,444,186,178,566,396,30,142],"tags":[977,999,144,60,1015,49],"class_list":["post-8864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general-tt","category-integrity-commission-general-tt","category-law","category-media","category-opposition-party","category-peoples-partnership","category-pnm","category-unc","tag-emailgate","tag-justice-sebastian-ventour","tag-kamla-persad-bissessar","tag-keith-rowley","tag-politics","tag-tt-govt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8864"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8864\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8876,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8864\/revisions\/8876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.trinidadandtobagonews.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}