Alliance For Change (AFC) Leader, Nigel Hughes on Wednesday slammed President Dr. Irfaan Ali for what he called premature comments regarding the manner of death of 11-year-old Adriana Younge, whose body was discovered in a pool last week.
At a press conference held at the Double Day Hotel, Hughes accused the president of overstepping by suggesting that pathologists had ruled out death by forcible drowning, even though no official report from the pathologist has been made public.
“The President, as far as I know, is not a pathologist, neither is he a forensic expert, nor is he a qualified investigator,” Hughes told reporters.
A post mortem examination (PME) conducted on Monday revealed that Adriana died by drowning. President Ali noted on that evening that pathologists have ruled out death by forcible drowning. Ali further noted that the due to the state of the decomposition of the body, the pathologists were unable to provide an exact time of death and that toxicology tests are pending.
However, Darren Wade, the lawyer representing the parents of the 11-year-old child told Guyana Standard that those words about forced drowning were not used to him by said doctors.
In his response to President Ali’s disclosure, the AFC leader said, “The only thing we know for certain, based on the report that came from Darren Wade, is that the cause of death was drowning. The finding of drowning does not rule out it being a homicide, which is an unlawful kill.”
Hughes added too that the toxicology tests, are key to determining whether Adriana actually drowned in the pool where she was found, and that no such results have been shared so far.
He explained, “One of the obvious issues that arise as a result of drowning as a cause of action is that the first issue is, where did the drowning take place? The only way we can begin to narrow the locations for drowning would be a result of the toxicology reports.
“If the water in the pool has chlorine, and any water found in her lungs or elsewhere in her body is not consistent with chlorine, it reduces significantly the possibility that she drowned in the pool.”
He outlined that the public has not seen any report from the pathologist. Unless that report is made available and it specifically sets out that there was no forced drowning, Hughes said one cannot rely on President Ali’s comment.
“Nobody has published the actual reports from the pathologist and therefore, with the greatest respect to the president, it is unfortunate that he would make an experts’ call i.e rule out forced drowning when we have not had the benefit of seeing the professional report of any of the pathologists,” Hughes added.
To this end, he described the president’s remarks as “completely premature” and said they risk undermining public trust in the ongoing investigation.
Moreover, Hughes accused President Ali of rushing to close the case without sufficient evidence. He added, “It’s unfortunate that the president said that, because what it immediately discloses, unfortunately for him, is a rush to judgment and a rush to try and close the investigation…”
