– party slams police action
PNCR activist Esther Perreira said police unlawfully detained her on a “trumped-up charge” in late December and forced her to break the new year behind bars. She insists her connection to the opposition party motivated the arrest.
Perreira, who filed the 1997 elections petition against the government, accused the state of criminalizing opposition supporters. She said the police detained her on a robbery-under-arms charge for which “no initial evidence” was provided and that she was only released on station bail on Monday after Opposition Leader Robert Corbin intervened.
“The name I bear is now infamous and has been for some time, people see it and they act on it and never in my favour, but I am not afraid. I know why I was arrested and they know as well,” Perreira said yesterday while expressing outage that she was taken from her home and housed at the East La Penitence Police Station for days. She referred to conditions at the lock-ups as hazardous saying that people should not be subjected to such inhumane treatment while in custody.
When contacted, Comman-der of ‘A’ Division George Vyphuis said he had no comment “at this time”. He said he would make enquiries to see whether the Police Public Relations Office intended to issue a statement on the matter.
The PNCR condemned Perreira’s detention at its weekly press conference yesterday saying she was crudely and vindictively arrested at her Sophia home on December 30, 2009. The party said her detention was without justification and that it “does not augur well for police/community relations in 2010”. The party referred to the incident as a disturbing case, adding “such gross violation of the human rights of our citizens, as guaranteed by the constitution of Guyana, will not be condoned and must be exposed and publicly condemned”.
Further, the party has sounded a warning to the Police Commissioner saying that such behaviour by ranks will not be condoned and will also be resisted in 2010. The party is standing by Perreira and has assisted her in instituting legal proceedings against the state.
Stabroek News spoke with Perreira at her Block ‘E’, Sophia home where she recounted the incident. She identified herself as the woman who was harassed by police and treated “like nothing”. She recalled going to investigate a strange sound at her son’s nearby residence on the day in question and being confronted by a barrage of policemen. Perreira said her son was away and the police were in his home “having a field day”. She said his home was ransacked and stuff taken away including two photographs. According to her, the police turned on her after she showed up.
Perreira gave her name to the police after they enquired who she was and “that was it”, she said. “I said Esther Perreira and a police rank immediately referred to me as ‘the woman who took government to court’”. She said too that the police informed her that they were looking for her and subsequently detained her. She resisted arrest and as a result, Perreira said, a policeman pushed her around until she was seated in a police car. She was taken to the Alberttown police station initially then transferred to the East La Penitence lock-ups.
The police permitted her one phone call to her family and said nothing to Perreira as to why she was being held. She was later informed that the police were investigating a charge of robbery-under-arms, but she declared yesterday that no information has been filed at any of three stations she was asked to check with as regards the alleged offence because she checked and confirmed this.
‘Obnoxious and toxic’
Perreira condemned the state of the East La Penitence lock-ups, which houses females, saying it is a cruel punishment on the women and girls referred there. She said the lock-ups is filthy and described the stench permeating the air as “obnoxious and toxic”. She detailed the conditions with a graphic description of the cells and bathroom facilities saying they were unhealthy by the poorest of standards. She recalled that five juveniles were detained while she was there; the youngest of whom was an 11-year-old girl.
“The conditions are the worst; imagine the worst and that’s it. What was worse, they are not even feeding you,” Perreira charged. She said the women there went hungry for days surviving on water and portions of meals she offered them which were supplied by her family. Perreira accused the ranks at the station of poor treatment and disclosed that she was on a partial hunger strike while in custody surviving only on liquids.
“I have endured a lot in my life because of my political affiliations and am being targeted right now. I am not afraid and I will continue to fight this,” Perreira added. The woman said she was a victim of the state machinery and that since 1997 she has suffered in various ways. She produced documents and cited a long-running application for electricity dating back to 2004 as a clear example saying there has been no movement on it despite initial payments being made. “My neighbour on the reserve used my address and got his power and here I am still waiting,” she said.
