Does Steve Merai know why I was attacked?

JULY 24, 2015 | BY KNEWS | FILED UNDER FEATURES / COLUMNISTS, FREDDIE KISSOON

In August 2012 on the stroke of midnight, I left the People’s Parliament’s Rodneyite groundings on High Street and crossed over to Brickdam with Dr. David Hinds and Michael Carrington (now a Member of Parliament for APNU-AFC) to go to the Demico car park to drive home. David’s Toyota was on the parapet outside Parliament building. My Rav4 was on the parapet outside Demico opposite Parliament. David went into his car and began to drive off. Michael Carrington disappeared into the night heading for the Linden car park. As I was about to enter my vehicle, a huge guy, not far from the build of Arnold Schwarzenegger, attacked me with furious blows to my head. The shouts brought the members of the People’s Parliament running towards me, but Michael Carrington got to me first. My attacker ran into a waiting black vehicle whose number plate was detected. The car was traced to then police officer Steve Merai. Mr. Merai told the Stabroek News that mischief was perpetrated on him (my choice of words). He explained that his car was stolen that night for the purpose of pinning that viciousness on him. That was the end of that. This was the second brutality against me within two years, but the police weren’t interested. Mr. Merai is mired in controversy, second only to perhaps Sean Hinds and Bharrat Jagdeo. The son-in-law of prominent PPP supporter, attorney Ashton Chase, produced a tape in which Merai is heard threatening Chase’s son-in-law, Mr. Beckles, on behalf of a dubious businessman over monies owed. Merai’s explanation was that it was a narcotics conspiracy and he was acting undercover. Merai’s name would have popped up in the Thomas Carroll visa scandal, because Carroll revealed in his cooperation statement with the district attorney that the Guyanese Black Clothes squad was the muscles he employed to get reluctant debtors to pay. Leon Fraser and Steve Merai virtually controlled the Black Clothes unit at the time. Merai’s name featured again in police investigations into the paid murder of businessman Mohamed Khan, owner of MFK Trading. Merai has been accused countless times for acts of deliberation in the shooting death of criminals. Any long-serving media operative would tell you that in their journalistic curiosities in the realm of deadly violence and murderous situations in which there were insinuations about police officials, the name of Steve Merai would have come up. In one of these instances, I traveled a night to a gym in Subryanville to interview him and on another occasion at his small home in Bel Air Park. I can distinctly remember telling him that for the controversial figure that he was, I didn’t see any security detail protecting his residence. I remember him telling me he is capable of handling his own security. The story of Steve Merai continues unabated, for we know now Sean Hinds has accused Merai of involvement in the homicide of Ronald Waddell. So far, Mr. Merai has never been charged and the media and victims have never supplied evidence to put Mr. Merai in a position where he is pressed to answer questions. So far, Mr. Merai has only commented on two controversies. First, he distanced himself from the 2012 attack on me. Secondly, he said he was acting undercover when he threatened Mr. Beckles. Now he has denied Hinds’s allegation. It should be mentioned in passing that during the 2015 election campaign, Merai provided security service to the PPP. I was told he was head of security arrangements. It would put my mind at rest if Merai could answer just two questions. Why would violent conspirators choose him to pin the blame for an attack on me. Why not someone with less resources and who doesn’t have the kind of connections like Merai to defend himself? The logic is simple to understand. Is it not better to choose a weak target so he would not be equipped to defend himself, in terms of resources and public relations skills, against a charge that he intended to kill Freddie Kissoon? Why frame a huge heavyweight like an Assistant Commissioner of Police, the status Merai held when the violent incident with me took place. This doesn’t make sense at all. I really would like to hear Merai’s explanation as to why he was chosen as the fall guy in the attempt on my life. The second question is who were these people? Does Merai have any idea, even a vague clue as to the conspirators? Of course I have my idea. The 2015 attempt was the second one. Dictatorship kills people. I was lucky.