Retired Assistant Commissioner of Police and former Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), Paul Slowe told a Guyanese diaspora town hall meeting in New York that the Rule of Law is under attack in Guyana and he pointed to the recent arrest of Attorney-at-Law Tamieka Clarke by the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) as an example.
The Attorney was taken into custody after she advised her client to remain silent. Mr Slowe said the attack on the Attorney comes as no surprise since SOCU has become a law unto itself.
“SOCU, in my view, they are a law unto themselves, and the reason why they can operate with seeming impunity is because they have the support of senior people in the Administration,” Mr Slowe said as he addressed a Town Hall Meeting organized by the Guyana Caribbean Institute for Democracy in New York on Sunday.
Ms Clarke has signalled her intention to initiate legal proceedings over her unlawful arrest by ranks of SOCU.
Noting that he too has been the subject of personal attacks by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration, the Retired Assistant Police Commissioner said the attacks intensified in late 2020 into 2021, after he objected to an allege attempt by the President to influence the promotion of Senior Officers of the Guyana Police Force.
Ignoring the wishes of the President, the PSC went ahead and drafted a list of officers to be promoted but even before the list could be finalised, then Senior Superintendent of Police Calvin Brutus, challenged the promotion of police officers, who he claimed had disciplinary matters pending against them. His challenge was eventually thrown out by the Court.
“The matter was set to be ruled on the 18th of June, 2021. On the 16th of June, the President suspended all members of the commission and we are sure that from all the evidence, that was done because they knew that the ruling would have gone against Brutus and others and did not want the Commission in place to promote the people that were identified,” he said.
The commission, at the time, had also moved to the court to challenge the suspension of its members, including the chairman.
Mr Slowe told the diaspora meeting that along with other retired Senior Officers, he was also charged with conspiracy to commit fraud and there was an attempt by the same SOCU to arrest him at the Court as he appeared to answer to the charge.
Meanwhile, Chartered Accountant Nigel Hinds called on the US to condemn all violations of economic and human rights by the PPP/C Administration.
“What we need now is a US House of Representative resolution to condemn the condition and conduct of President Irfaan Ali and his Administration for their actions of economic prosecution of African Guyanese, and non-supporters of the PPP. We urge the United States, Executive Branch to condemn all violations of economic and human rights in Guyana,” he said.
The Chartered Accountant told the diaspora meeting that the PPP Administration has been operating in a dictatorial manner, while claiming to practice and promote, inclusivity and togetherness.
He said on a daily basis, Guyanese are complaining about the barriers to finance in Guyana, the unfair award of contracts, unemployment and biasness of the Private Sector.
“An injustice by any other name is still an injustice, whether we call it economic prosecution, social inequity or political prejudice,” he reasoned.
The Chartered Accountant said that Guyana can be the pivot that provides a bench mark for economic prosperity, however, as it currently stands, more than 40% of the country’s population lives in poverty, at a time when the Natural Resource Fund has US$1.5B.
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