Lawyer for PNP officials blames politics for Trafigura probe

Attorney-at-law Deborah Martin is contending her clients Phillip Paulwell and Colin Campbell are only being asked to respond to questions in relation to the Trafigura probe because of politics.



She was making her submission today before the Constitutional Court as the hearing continued into the application by the People’s National Party (PNP) which is seeking to challenge a Supreme Court order.



Martin is representing PNP officials Paulwell and Campbell.



She made reference to a letter by Bruce Golding, the then Leader of the Opposition, who wrote to the Dutch authorities asking them to investigate the $31 million donation to the PNP by Dutch company Trafigura Beheer in 2006.



At the time of the donation Trafigura had an oil-lifting contract with the PNP administration which formed the government.



Martin further argued that the November 2010 Supreme Court order to compel her clients to answer questions in relation to the Trafigura probe was an abuse of the process of the court.



She said the order breached their constitutional rights and without the intervention of the court this will continue.



Martin noted that her clients were being treated as suspects and that under Jamaican laws such persons have the right not to answer questions.



She further argued that her clients have already made public statement about the Trafigura matter and they should not be called upon to give any further evidence.



The Trafigura hearing in the Constitutional Court continues tomorrow.



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