Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) leader and lone Member of Parliament Amanza Walton-Desir says Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, Anil Nandlall, demonstrated a fundamental misunderstanding of maritime operations and may have jeopardised the constitutional right to a fair trial of the three men charged with murder over the sinking of the MV Barima.

Appearing on Sherod Duncan’s Credible Sources programme on Wednesday evening, Walton-Desir sharply criticised comments made by Nandlall during his weekly “Issues in the News” programme, saying Guyana’s chief legal officer did not even understand the respective duties of a vessel’s captain and chief mate before publicly commenting on the case.

Nandlall’s remarks came amid growing public outrage over the decision to charge Captain Kevin Price, 40, Chief Mate Rondell Dwayne Roberts, 42, and Cargo Superintendent Delon Granderson, 33, with murder following the July 18 MV Barima tragedy. Attorneys, maritime professionals, trade unionists, opposition politicians and relatives of victims have argued that the wrong people have been charged, particularly as a Commission of Inquiry is yet to begin hearing evidence into the disaster.