Was Dillian Johnson shot to silence him & stop gay scandal?
London, UK – 1 March 2018
Gay Trinidadian Dillian Johnson has fled to Britain and is seeking asylum after he was shot, in what he fears was a murder attempt to silence him. This follows media speculation concerning his alleged relations with, and improper favours from, the Chief Justice of Trinidad and Tobago, Ivor Archie.
Dillian Johnson, aged 35, said:
“I originally had no intention of speaking publicly about any association with the Chief Justice or the allegations surrounding him. But I now feel obliged to respond in the light of an apparent attempt to kill me and extensive, sometimes misleading, media coverage in Trinidad and Tobago.
“I believe the gun attack was an attempt to silence me. I was in fear for my life. The police were doing nothing to catch the shooter. That’s why I fled to the UK and have applied for asylum,” he said.
British human rights campaigner, Peter Tatchell, who has advised Johnson and supported his asylum bid, added:
“I have spoken extensively to Dillian Johnson and assisted him with his asylum application. Based on the evidence he has shown me, I believe he has a well-founded fear of persecution in Trinidad and Tobago, including the possibility of being murdered. Already there has been one alleged attempt on his life and seemingly no police remedial action. I support his bid for refugee status in the UK,” said Mr Tatchell.
Peter Tatchell’s statement supporting Dillian Johnson’s asylum application:
Dillian Johnson held a high-powered job as a project superintendent with the Water & Sewage Authority in Trinidad and Tobago. He claims to have had knowledge of corruption there, which he says he unsuccessfully tried to expose. He admits that he directed water authority employees to do private work but alleges this was on the instructions of his supervisor. He says he informed more senior officials in the water authority that he was unhappy to do this and was told to get the job done.
Johnson is gay. The country is very homophobic. Gay sex is illegal and punishable by a maximum sentence of 25 years jail. There is public hostility and great stigma attached to homosexuality.
Since late last year, the Trinidad and Tobago media have been investigating and publicly hinting at a relationship between Johnson and the Chief Justice, Ivor Archie. They have insinuated that the Chief Justice took Johnson on an official trip to Guyana and secured him various improper favours.
It is alleged that the Chief Justice fears the public exposure of his relations with Johnson and the claimed personal favours. It could potentially destroy his judicial career and marriage, put him at risk of prosecution and imprisonment and make him a social outcast among many Trinidad and Tobago people.
Johnson is concerned that the Chief Justice is panicked that he might speak to the media or that the media might, on their own initiative, expose the two men. He is anxious that the Chief Justice or his allies may want to silence him.
To prevent him speaking about his links to the Chief Justice, Johnson fears that influential people may have been behind an apparent attempt to kill him outside his home in Trinidad and Tobago on 3 December 2017. Nine shots were fired at Johnson, with one bullet hitting him in the left hand.
Johnson is worried that a soldier, Richard Edwards of the Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard, and Peter Joseph, the former head of the Trinidad and Tobago intelligence agency and the current head of judicial security, may have knowledge of the gun attack and a possible plot to kill him – a plot that he believes may be on-going. Johnson remains in fear of being murdered.
After he was shot, Johnson reported what he believes was probably a murder attempt to the Trinidad and Tobago police. He says they took no apparent action and have never contacted him since he filed the initial report of the crime. He feels there has been no proper investigation of the gun attack and that action to apprehend his attempted killer(s) appears to have been stalled, possibly under pressure from powerful, influential people in Trinidad and Tobago.
Fearing further attempts on his life, Johnson fled to the UK and claimed asylum on 29 December 2017.
He says the police in his home country have failed to protect him and arrest the perpetrator(s) of the gun attack. He has no confidence that the police can or will protect him. He would feel very unsafe if he was returned to Trinidad and Tobago.
Johnson believes there are moves afoot by the Trinidad and Tobago authorities to extradite him, possibly using trumped up charges as a pretext. He is already being portrayed in the local press as a “convicted felon.” This sounds serious but his convictions relate to parking offences, swearing in public and forged job references.
All these allegations by Johnson need to be thoroughly investigated to determine their veracity.
Johnson says he has masses of evidence which he has copied to third parties, with instructions that it should be handed to the media and UK police, in the event that he is extradited, kidnapped or murdered.
On the basis of what I have heard from Dillian Johnson, Trinidad and Tobago is unsafe for him. I support him being granted asylum and refugee status in the UK.
Yours sincerely,
Peter Tatchell
Director, PeterTatchell Foundation