Dear Editor:
President Bharrat Jagdeo’s recent decision to rely on the words “concerned in” of Article 188 of the constitution and grant a “free pardon” to treason accused, Mr Phillip Bynoe, is being welcomed by some Guyanese as a magnanimous gesture, but to me it fits a pattern of a head of state who either has no respect for or need of the justice system. In fact, right now, it seems like even the Joint Services are doing the job of the judicial system dealing with criminals and being monetarily rewarded by the government as well as being publicly commended by the President and his cabinet.
Mr Bynoe, along with Mr Mark Benschop, was accused by the PPP government of engaging in treasonous behaviour when they allegedly led a group of protestors on a crashing invasion of the Office of the President’s compound.
Mr Benschop turned himself into the police after being identified as a leader of the protestors and was arrested, charged and tried; but after his trial ended in a hung jury, and being incarcerated for five years, he was finally freed by the President. Mr Bynoe, meanwhile, remained on the lam until we learned that the President also ‘free pardoned’ him.
In the first place, based on news accounts, I never believed that Messrs Bynoe and Benschop were ever guilty of the high crime called treason.
If anything, they stood accused of engaging in disorderly conduct or appearing to mislead the procession towards the off-limits presidential compound.
The President’s security detail and the Guyana Police Force were culpably negligent.
But even though the President appeared to act under growing international pressure to free Mr Benschop, the move was still warmly greeted by all Guyanese who knew the government had no real treason case.
The President’s so-called ‘free pardon’ extended to Mr Bynoe, on the other hand, has taken some of us by surprise, because in most functioning democracies where the rule of law is supreme to even the highest office holder, a pardon is usually extended to someone who is convicted of a crime.
In other words, the justice system that upholds the rule of law is supposed to first go to work in the case of the accused, rendering a guilty or not guilty verdict.
What Mr Bynoe was accused of, was not a crime against President Jagdeo, but against the state and the people of Guyana. His crime demanded that the state and the people of Guyana render him due process in accordance with the justice system. If the state no longer wished to pursue treason charges, based on a letter of contrition from Mr Bynoe, then the Director of Public Prosecutions, acting in concert with the Guyana Police Force, had to make a public statement withdrawing the charges it levelled against Mr Bynoe.
For the President to publicly get involved in this matter after making it quite clear that Mr Bynoe was still wanted for his alleged crime of treason and then supersede the justice system by ‘free pardoning’ the accused, raises serious red flags among many of us who have been observing the President’s eagerness to use those constitutional clauses originally intended for the late Forbes Burnham, whose autocratic style of governance required that he be constitutionally protected whenever he spoke or acted.
After watching how Burnham governed, all Guyanese, including the late Dr Cheddi Jagan and the PPP, determined that at the first chance, the constitution needed to be overhauled to reflect, among other things, a President who does not abuse his authority by hiding behind specifically designed constitutional clauses. Certain clauses just had to go!
Unfortunately, we have now discovered that the deeply flawed Guyana constitution that was supposed to have been overhauled with a series of amendments in the late 1990s, still contains flawed clauses that allow the President to supersede the judicial/legal system as was originally the case under Burnham.
Obviously the constitution is still in need of a genuine overhauling to make the law supreme to the presidency and the people, regardless of political persuasion.
And while the PNC’s parliamentary support will be needed for future amendments, one has to question why during the last amendments it didn’t push for the deletion of those clauses that protect the President’s autocratic behaviour?
Was it hoping to appease the PPP in hope of being granted shared governance status? Will the President eventually acquiesce once he is satisfied he is firmly entrenched in political power?
Editor, if there ever is going to be a shared governance deal between the PPP and PNC in the near or foreseeable future, there is only one question: Will the President grant a ‘free pardon’ to the demonized PNC for all the charges levelled against that party for being associated with dangerous criminals?
As much as a ‘free pardon’ and shared governance agreement may be politically expedient moves, it may again underscore the troubling role of the President in superseding the justice and legal system, which still needs to find official closure for the many innocent Guyanese who were killed or injured (in some cases, for supposedly partisan political reasons) at the hands of demented criminal elements. Ironically, the PNC has been accused but never found guilty!
Finally, for those who believe the President was magnanimous, don’t you think his magnanimity should now extend to all wanted suspects or prisoners on remand awaiting trial on a variety of charges (many less serious than treason)?
Shouldn’t they deluge the President with letters expressing remorse and a desire for a second chance at freedom?
Because of a definitely flawed constitution, President Jagdeo may yet become the Caribbean’s most magnanimous and benevolent head of government who virtually wields unlimited executive power.
Yours faithfully,
Emile Mervin
