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Ar GUYANA | Rickford Burke threatens to Sue Gov't of Guyana, Police Commissioner and Crime Chief if Wanted Bulletin is not withdrawn
GUYANA | Rickford Burke threatens to Sue Gov't of Guyana, Police Commissioner and Crime Chief if Wanted Bulletin is not withdrawn
BROOKLYN, New York, October 17, 2022 -New York-based Guyanese political activist and head of the Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy Mr. Rickford Burke, has threatened to sue the Government of Guyana, the country's Crime Chief and its Commissioner of Police in Federal Court in New York, if a 'malicious' wanted bulletin issued by the Government for his arrest is not withdrawn.
The Wanted Bulletin concerns an incident in which Mr. Burke’s role, was one of conciliator and conflict resolver. Burke posted over seven hundred complaints by persons who alleged that they were cheated by an East Indian businessman, Arfaaz Mohamed of BM SOAT Auto Dealership, on his social media.
Burke alleged that the auto dealership and its owner were ripping off poor African Guyanese and other citizens with impunity, because of their alleged connections asnd untouchable status at CID Headquarters in Georgetown.
The CGID in its statement said "its attorneys have reviewed the evidence and witness statements gathered and coerced by Police in connection with these allegations. The GPF claim that witnesses implicated Mr. Burke is a lie. They have no such evidence. Furthermore, the so-called witnesses do not know Mr. Burke.
"The GPF has no reason, basis or jurisdiction to issue a Wanted Bulletin for Mr. Burke. We therefore demand that the Bulletin be withdrawn or we will sue the Government, Crime Chief and Commissioner of Police in Federal Court in New York," the GCID Statement said.
last week, Guyana's parliamentary Opposition the APNU+AFC Coalition, in a statement said the party "has taken note of the malicious Wanted Bulletin issued on September 29th by the Guyana Police Force for Mr. Rickford Burke. Mr. Burke, a US-based Guyanese political activist, is President of the US based Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID). He is well-known as a relentless campaigner against racial discrimination, high-level corruption, human rights and general lawlessness on the part of the PPP government. The PPP, therefore, is waging a campaign to silence him through acts of harassment, intimidation, and character assassination."
According to the APNU+AFC Coalition, "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. Instead, the PPP, in a desperate act of revenge against Mr. Burke, has used the incident to frame him by criminalizing his well-meaning intentions and actions."
"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 parliamentary opposition said.
The following is a statement issued by the Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID) in relation to the matter:
On September 29, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) issued a malicious Wanted Bulletin for President of the New York based Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID) Mr. Rickford Burke, purportedly for questioning for alleged conspiracy to extort money from an East Indian businessman, Arfaaz Mohamed of BM SOAT Auto Dealership, and defamatory libel.
Mohamed and his family are PPP supporters and financiers. They are also alleged benefactors of persons in the GPF. They think that they can rip off poor African Guyanese and other citizens with impunity, because of their connections at CID Headquarters. They are angry because Mr. Burke ventilated over seven hundred complaints, on his social media, by persons who alleged that they were cheated by Mohamed and his company.
Mr. Burke is a brave, ardent advocate against PPP government racism and corruption, and has been exposing rampant corruption and criminality in the GPF. The GPF is a criminal enterprise. It faces accusations of bribery to cover up murders, murder for hire, fabricating evidence, destroying evidence, and other scandals. In yet another act of corruption, the GPF is on a futile mission to frame Mr. Burke as a criminal, although he does not live in Guyana. They are out to destroy his credibility and reputation. They will fail! They will destroy theirs instead, because the world knows that the GPF is run by a bunch of liars!
CGID and its attorneys have reviewed the evidence and witness statements gathered and coerced by Police in connection with these allegations. The GPF claim that witnesses implicated Mr. Burke is a lie. They have no such evidence. Furthermore, the so-called witnesses do not know Mr. Burke. The GPF has no reason, basis or jurisdiction to issue a Wanted Bulletin for Mr. Burke. We therefore demand that the Bulletin be withdrawn or we will sue the Government, Crime Chief and Commissioner of Police in Federal Court in New York.
The Bulletin is a political stunt and another crime of transnational repression to silence Mr. Burke and CGID, but that will NEVER happen! The consequences of this repressive act will be devastating to the GPF and the PPP regime. Already the Bulletin has been widely condemned by a large cross-section of the Guyanese society, as well as sections of the media in Guyana and the Caribbean Region.
These ridiculous accusations are the product of a criminal conspiracy by the owners of BM Soat and the Police leadership at CID, to seek revenge for exposing Mohamed and his company's alleged criminal abuse of customers. The GPF is also determined to reach into the US to carry out a vendette campaign against Mr. Burke for demanding an investigation into recent allegations that bribes were paid to cover up a murder. We reiterate our demand for an investigation!
THE GPF IS EVEN WRONG ON THE LAW:
A fundamental constitutional doctrine of criminal law is that crimes are prosecuted in the jurisdiction in which they occur. Mr. Burke lives in the US. He committed no crime. He is a law abiding citizen and respected, high profile leader in New York. Nonetheless, since the GPF has the audacity to issue a wanted bulletin for Mr. Burke, they must explain their nonsensical claim that a person who is physically in New York, committed a crime in Guyana, and what law gives them jurisdiction to Police someone in the US? The GPF is not the world Police. It cannot act outside of its jurisdiction.
They are power drunk and what they are doing is madness! They, in conspiracy with persons at the DPP and Attorney General's Chambers, shopped around to find an offense that they believe can apply to Mr. Burke outside of Guyana's jurisdiction. Thus, they fabricated these allegations under Section 33 of Act Chapter 8:01 of the laws of Guyana and the Guyana Cybercrime Act.
However, their effrontery and maliciousness is astounding. Apart from the fundamental fact that they have no jurisdiction over the US, Section (4) of Chapter 8:01, states that where an alleged act was committed partly within Guyana and another jurisdiction, the persons within Guyana's jurisdiction shall be prosecuted. Clearly that law only permits the exercise of jurisdiction over persons within Guyana. This means that the GPF cannot even investigate, much less, charge anyone outside Guyana with a crime.
Moreover, the Guyana Cybercrime Act has no extra-territorial application. It cannot be enforced in another country. Most important, however, is the fact that the Guyana Cybercrime Act requires a computer or data storage device to be present and located directly in Guyana in order to establish a breach of law, and for the courts in Guyana to exercise jurisdiction.
Worst, sections of the Guyana Cybercrime Act depend on the expression of opinions to establish defamatory libel as a crime. This is a naked, abominable transgression of the fundamental constitutional and human right of free speech. This right is a pillar of both the Guyana and US constitutions. It was expressly enshrined in the First Amendment of the US constitution to prohibit the type of repression in which the PPP government and the GPF indulge.
These provisions of the First Amendment of the US constitution were enacted to rebuff reprehensible laws or governmental acts to suppress or abridge freedom of speech or freedom of the press, as an attempt to insulate the government from dissent or criticism. Hence GPF attempt to enforce Guyana's unconstitutional Cybercrime laws in the US is comical. Again, Mr. Burke lives in the US, and committed no crime. We provide this analysis to establish the maliciousness of the GPF.
The Bulletin is a manifestation of political harassment and character assessanitation. It demonstrates GPF's willingness to abuse its power to engage in transnational repression crimes to attempt to silence PPP government critics in the US. This is a clear violation of US law! CGID has requested an investigation by the United States Justice Department and Congress.
We will continue to wage a relentless campaign against racism and corruption in the apartheid PPP government and the GPF, and are steadfastly committed to exposing criminality in the GPF.
Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID)
October 17, 2022