Guyanese political activist welcomes court’s dismissal of defamatory libel charges

Last Updated on Saturday, 21 June 2025, 10:36 by Writer

By Nelson A. King

NEW YORK, Jun 21, CMC – The New York-based Guyanese political activist, Rickford Burke, has welcomed the ruling by the Guyana Chief Justice, Roxane George-Wiltshire, dismissing the defamatory libel charges against him, after a ruling on Friday that it is unconstitutional and violates the enshrined right to freedom of expression.

“I thank the court for this historic ruling,” Burke, who is also President of the Brooklyn-based Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID) told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).

“The judgment of the Chief Justice is sound and unassailable. It sets a new precedent in the entire Commonwealth jurisprudence that vitiates overreach by autocratic governments to limit dissent and free speech,” he added. Burke said that the incumbent People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government in Guyana “has been abusing the Guyana Police Force and the laws of Guyana to intimidate, persecute and assassinate the character of Guyanese abroad who express dissent, expose their racism and corruption.

“I have been completely exonerated. The lies, fabrications and criminal conspiracy by the PPP government to frame me have been exposed by the court,” he said, labelling the Guyana Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs as “a national disgrace and an embarrassment to Guyana.

“He must resign in shame,” Burke told CMC, as he thanked his attorney, Senior Counsel, Roysdale Forde for “a splendid job arguing this matter before the court, which produced a landmark ruling.

“Together, we created history in the Commonwealth jurisprudence and further afield,” said Burke, a staunch critic of the PPP government, and who was also represented by former magistrate, Dawn Cush.

On Friday, Chief Justice George-Wiltshire ruled that Section 115 of the Criminal Law Offences Act including conspiracy to commit such an offence is “unconstitutional as being in violation of Article 146 which guarantees freedom of expression.

“It is declared that the resort to criminal defamatory libel to protect individual reputation is unnecessary, disproportionately excessive and not justified and or required to protect reputations, rights and freedoms of other persons and are unconstitutional as being in violation of Article 146 which is the freedom of expression provision in our constitution,” she said.

The charge of criminal defamatory libel dates back to December 3, 2021, when the Guyana Police Force (GPF) issued a wanted bulletin for Burke, citing offences under various acts, including the Racial Hostility Act, Cyber Crime Act, and Criminal Law Offences Act.

On September 29, 2022, another wanted bulletin was issued in connection with conspiracy to commit a felony under the Criminal Law (Offences) Act.

Charges were formally filed on August 18, 2023, at the Vigilance Magistrate’s Court. But Burke, who resides in the United States, did not make any appearance in the court proceedings.

In response, the magistrate ordered the preparation of “defendant summons” to compel Burke’s attendance on March 28, 2024.

Justice George-Wiltshire said she was bound to consider human rights conventions and learning in accordance with Article 39, much of which have criticized criminal defamation.

She said that several Caribbean countries, including Grenada, Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda and Trinidad and Tobago, have abolished criminal defamatory libel after lobbying, especially by journalists.

The Guyana Press Association (GPA), together with the Inter-American Press Institute (IAPI), has been lobbying for the repeal of criminal defamation legislation here.

In delivering her ruling, Justice George-Wiltshire questioned how Burke, who has been living in the United States for the past 27 years, could have committed the offence in Lusignan, East Coast Demerara.

She said it was evident that the prosecution did not tell Magistrate Fabayo Azore that Burke was not in Guyana and could not have been at Lusignan as stated in the charge.

If this was disclosed to the magistrate, then she most likely would have declined to have issued the summonses issued under her hand,” the Chief Justice said.

Assistant Superintendent of Police Rodwell Sarabo, who was tasked with locating Burke, said he visited Lot 1 Fellowship, West Coast Demerara, Burke’s last known address here, but did not locate him.

The court was told that on December 13, 2023, the senior police officer travelled to the United States with the originals of the summonses and met with a U.S. Process Server and, three days later, they went to an address in Brooklyn, where they met Burke who refused to accept the documents and the Process Server left them on the accused’s doorstep.

But the Chief Justice noted that Burke’s residing in the U.S. for the past 27 years has not been refuted by the State by such means as immigration records and in quashing the GPF’s effort to serve Burke with a summons in the U.S., pointed out that a summons shall “have full force and effect and may be served anywhere within Guyana.

“Therefore, the summons only has efficacy within the geographical boundaries of Guyana. Service of a summons outside the jurisdiction of Guyana means that such service would be unlawful and therefore invalid,” she said.

Justice George-Wiltshire said the magistrate admitted to Burke’s contention that the summons is only effective within the jurisdiction of Guyana, adding it does appear that what was done was more akin to service of civil proceedings and even then whether such service is acceptable depends on the rules of the court.

In her judgement, Chief Justice George-Wiltshire held that the threat of state action through the criminal law amounts to overreach.

Burke told CMC that “the FBI had previously investigated the PPP government’s allegations in the documents Sarabo left on his (Burke’s) stairs and found them to be malicious and false.”

Just before Friday’s court ruling, Burke claimed that Trump administration officials in the United States “have taken up the matter and have demanded that the PPP government explain why U.S. sovereignty was violated by a conscious decision of the government of Guyana to send a GPF officer to New York, to commit several crimes, including violating U.S. immigration law, and unlawfully acquiring an illegal gun, which was brandished at Burke at his home.

“CGID has consistently demanded that officials in the PPP government involved in this conspiracy to violate U.S. law be sanctioned for violating U.S. sovereignty and committing transnational repression crimes,” Burke told CMC.