Demerara Waves Online News- Guyana Riding on the Crest of Truth
Last Updated on Friday, 30 September 2022, 20:39 by Denis Chabrol
The opposition A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) on Friday accused the government of attempting to silence New York-based Guyanese political activist Rickford Burke with trumped up allegations of extortion.
“The PPP (People’s Progressive Party) , therefore, is waging a campaign to silence him through acts of harassment, intimidation, and character assassination,” the APNU+AFC said in a statement.
The coalition’s position almost immediately drew a stinging reaction by the government, again hinting that there was sufficient evidence to go after Mr Burke extra-territorially.
“The Government of Guyana restates its commitment to use all the lawful powers and facilities available to the State to address crime and criminality both within and beyond its borders. Burke is no exception,” the Ministry of Home Affairs said.
The APNU+AFC called on the United States to examine whether the Guyana government was about to flout international law by possibly seeking Mr Burke’s return. “Clearly, this current action by the PPP and the GPF involves transcending Guyana’s borders and being involved in repression of a Guyanese in another jurisdiction.
It deserves to be investigated as a crime of transnational repression and the abuse of the
Cybercrime laws to suppress free speech and political dissent. We, therefore, call on the
US government to investigate this violation of the law and human rights,” the APNU+AFC said.
The Guyana Police Force on Thursday issued a wanted bulletin for Mr Burke, saying he is wanted for questioning for extortion.
The APNU+AFC, noting that Mr Burke is a well-known as a relentless campaigner against racial
discrimination, high-level corruption, human rights and general lawlessness on the part
of the PPP government, defended him in trying to settle a number of financial disputes.
“This current wanted bulletin concerns an incident in which Mr. Burke’s role, from our
review of the evidence provided, is one of conciliator and conflict resolver,” the coalition said.
Instead, the APNU+AFC castigated the
PPP-led administration for embarking on a desperate act of revenge against Mr. Burke by used the incident to frame him by criminalizing his well-meaning intentions and actions.
The Ministry of Home Affairs for its part defended its pursuit of Mr Burke on the grounds that two media workers have implicated him. Alex Wayne and Gary Eleazar are on GY$100,000 bail on a joint charge of extortion.
“Recently, the Guyana Police Force stated that it has unearthed damning evidence implicating Burke and two reporters in a conspiratorial scheme to extort money from businessmen in Guyana. The two reporters have both implicated Burke as part of this criminal enterprise. As a result, a wanted bulletin has been issued for Burke,” the Ministry of Home Affairs, which is responsible for the police force, said.
Government said Mr Burke is well known for his racist rantings and race hate writings using social media and other platforms, in his persistent attempts to incite racial and ethnic hostilities among the citizens of Guyana.
Rather than stand on the side of law and order and with the victims of this criminal extortionist plot, the government said APNU/AFC, true to form, chose the side of criminality.
Mr Burke has not been charged or convicted of any crime that police want to question him about.
This is the second Guyana Police Force wanted bulletin to have been issued for Mr Burke; the first having been in December 2021 when he was cited for the excitement of hostility or ill-will on the grounds of race in violation of the Racial Hostility Act; sedition, use of a computer system to intimidate in violation of the Cyber Crime Act; seditious libel, inciting the provocation of the breach of peace, and inciting public terror.
Under a reciprocal arrangement through extradition or a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty, a number of Guyanese could be sent to the US to face trial, the sources said.