Suspected toy gun attacker at Chief Justice’s residence on eve of elections petition case management; govt beefs up security amid political brouhaha

Last Updated on Wednesday, 21 October 2020, 21:28 by Denis Chabrol

A man allegedly attacked two police security guards at the home of Chief Justice Roxanne George-Wiltshire Wednesday afternoon with what seemed to be a toy gun,a  day before she is due to hold a case management conference for the two elections petition by the opposition A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC).

The Guyana government has since announced that security has been strengthened at the residence of the Chief Justice where the incident occurred at about 2 PM. “The Government has already advised the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to ensure that the Chief Justice is provided with all the necessary security for the protection of her person, family and property,” police said. Police said no shots were fired no one was injured. “The object was picked up and is suspected to be toy gun,” police said.

The opposition coalition condemned the attacked and called for tighter security for the Chief Justice. “We call on the Guyana Police Force and the State to provide heightened 24-hour security for the Chief Justice to ensure her safety and protection  and that she is able to proceed with the case management and hearing of the elections petitions without hindrance,” the coalition said.

Investigators were told that earlier Wednesday, two policemen were on duty when one left the hut and went into the washroom when she was confronted by a man who was wearing a black short pants and a white jersey tied around his face and armed with what a appeared to be a black handgun.

Police were informed that the man approached the policewoman and pointed the object at her and fired a punch at her but missed her, after which she called her colleague who was armed with a .38 revolver. “The rank having heard the call went out to see who it was when the said male pointed the object at him causing the rank to take cover. However, the person then dropped the object and ran in a northern direction and jumped over a fence and made good his escape,” police said.

The Chief Justice is Thursday scheduled to preside over a case management session with lawyers for the APNU+AFC, governing People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and the Guyana Elections Commission. The coalition has maintained that the general elections of March 2, 2020 were rigged by voting in the names of deceased and migrants, other irregularities and anomalies, but the PPP has said that the national vote recount proved that it won by a lead of more than 15,000 valid votes.

The APNU+AFC charged that the incident was aimed at intimidating the Chief Justice, as part of a criminal plot to thwart the elections petitions. “The PPP is the only party that is desperate for the hearing of the elections petition to be delayed and thus ample motive for executing such a vile and intimidatory act on the eve of the case management hearing,” the coalition added.

But, the PPP administration, in a sharp reaction, suggested that the APNU+AFC might have a hand in the incident at Chief Justice George-Wiltshire’s residence. “For the record, the PPP/C Government has nothing to fear from either of the two Election Petitions filed and we have already stated that they are frivolous, vexatious and as without merit as every other legal proceedings APNU+AFC have filed in recent times,” the coalition said.