By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

OPPOSITION Leader Michael Pintard said he believes Police Commissioner Clayton Fernander did not tell the truth about the status of the investigation into an alleged attack against Free National Movement vice chairman Richard Johnson.

He suggested that police might be colluding with the Davis administration to distract from their “failure to lead on crime”.

Commissioner Fernander told The Tribune on Sunday that a young man had been taken into custody over the weekend for questioning after Mr Johnson was attacked outside an FNM meeting on November 30. Commissioner Fernander said the man was released from custody pending further investigation.

 Mr Pintard said he and other FNM leaders had not been advised about this development.

 “Quite frankly, we believe that it’s a lie, but that’s just us,” he said during a press conference yesterday. “If the police is making progress, we welcome that news and we ask them to let us know. We do have a suspicion, however.

 “We suspect that this government, under duress at the moment, are questioning persons who may have witnessed something and have sought to characterise that questioning as they have a person of interest. If they do have a person of interest, please let us know. We wish to assist you.”

 Mr Johnson said he was talking to FNM members outside the party’s headquarters when someone came out of nowhere and hit him across his head, prompting him to defend himself.

 FNM leaders later filed a police complaint against him, saying he falsely accused them of orchestrating the attack.

 Mr Pintard said yesterday that FNM chairman Dr Duane Sands had not been told police had someone in custody despite helping with the investigation.

 “If you don’t have a person of interest, why characterise it as if you do, and we say that the police is part and parcel along with the PLP machinery and possibly others in this ruse because persons who do respond to questioning in order to assist with the investigation mysteriously find camera persons available at the time that they show up and only them and the police should know that they’re going to show up to assist the police in its investigation.

 “Something stinks.”

 Commissioner Fernander did not respond to The Tribune’s questions about Mr Pintard’s claims before press time.