Canadian Immigration Consultant Balwant Persaud was yesterday morning taken into police custody for questioning in relation to his recent case involving the Canadian couple that successfully applied for refugee status in Canada. He was, however, released from custody following the interrogation by the officers.
Persaud, in a press release, said that around 10.45 am yesterday, four detectives went to his home and took him to the Brickdam Police Station. According to him, he was never told what the police wanted to question him about until he made an enquiry at the station. “When I arrived at the Brickdam Police Station I protested my arrest to the detective there and he politely told me that he is investigating the refugee matter I won in Canada,” he said. According to Persaud, the detective questioned him about certain individuals and “I told him I do not know those individuals”.
Persaud alleged that during the questioning, the detective made a few calls on his cell phone for further instructions. Persaud said he was placed in an office and after waiting for one and a half hour, he was told he could go.
The immigrant consultant believes that he is being harassed by the police and charged that there are “political motives” behind it. According to him, on Friday afternoon, two police officers went to his work place and he voluntarily gave them a statement.
Recently Persaud had successfully petitioned the Canadian authorities on behalf of a Guyanese couple seeking asylum. The husband said that he had been threatened after he refused a request by a government official to hack into the computers of leading members of the opposition and a newspaper columnist. The man alleged that it was Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee who had threatened him, an allegation that the minister has denied.
Rohee, in a press statement, had said that Persaud, on his return to Guyana, would be expected to demonstrate a sense of responsibility by immediately reporting to the local police, the issues highlighted in his submissions to the Canadians. He said this was necessary so the claims could be investigated.
Rohee charged, “Mr Persaud rolled out the story in a foreign jurisdiction making serious allegations against a serving minister of government” and questioned why the allegations were never reported to the Guyana Police Force. He said Persaud’s “pre-submission” to the Canadian authorities in favour of the Guyanese “smacks of wild and unsubstantiated allegations.”
Responding to Rohee’s statements, Persaud, in a letter to the press, accused the minister of attacking him unjustly. “I never made any allegations against him [Rohee], the police or anyone to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. All I did was to represent my client based on facts and information provided to me,” he said.
