Update: Immigration officer not transferred for allowing departure of Brutus’ wife

Last Updated on Monday, 9 December 2024, 8:15 by Writer

Senior Immigration Officer, Phiona Harris has not been transferred in connection with the departure of a police officer’s wife, who is charged with money laundering, to leave Guyana, sources said.

The sources debunked claims in sections of the media that Ms Harris was moved out of the Immigration Department because she obeyed a Magistrates’ Court order for Assistant Police Commissioner Calvin Brutus’ wife, Adonika Aulder to leave Guyana for the United States to seek medical attention.

Mr Brutus and Ms Aulder are on bail for money laundering and other charges.

Before they were charged on October 24, 2024, the High Court had on October 18, 2024, refused Mr Brutus’ request to accompany his wife to seek pregnancy-related medical attention in the United States.

Initially, Ms Aulder was ordered to surrender her passport as part of her bail conditions but that travel document was ordered returned to her on December 5, 2024, the same day she and her minor son travelled to the US and they are due to return to Guyana before weekend.

Admittedly, Ms Aulder’s departure has raised some eyebrows because she and her husband are in a high profile case, and the matter could be the subject of further deliberations in the Guyana Police Force in the coming days.

In the High Court last month, her lawyer Earl Daniels had said that she is due for delivery in March, 2025.

The GPF and the Guyana government on Sunday opted to remain silent on claims by the opposition A Partnership for National Unity/People’s National Congress Reform (APNU/PNCR) that Ms Harris was transferred after she obeyed a court order and allowed the departure of a police officer’s wife, who is charged with money laundering, to leave Guyana.

GPF spokesman Mark Ramotar, Police Commissioner Clifton Hicken, Deputy Police Commissioner Ravindradat Budram and Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn did not respond to requests for comments.

Relying on a number of media houses, the PNCR/APNU was itself unsure whether Senior Immigration Officer Harris was in fact transferred because she obeyed a lawful court order, and said it was deeply concerned about the allegation. “If this allegation is true, and we have reasons to believe it is, it raises troubling questions about the government’s respect for the rule of law and the independence of public institutions.”