The PPP yesterday said that former Office of the President (OP) staffer Dr Randy Persaud was arrested by members of the New York Police Department (NYPD) for “no apparent reason” and it condemned the local press for publishing misleading accounts of the incident.
Persaud was arrested two Fridays ago, following an incident with protesters outside Club Tobago in Queens, New York, where President Bharrat Jagdeo and PPP presidential candidate Donald Ramotar were meeting with supporters.
“We know from unassailable sources the following – that Randy Persaud approached a picket line and requested an interview with one of the protesters. He identified himself by name.”
“As Dr. Persaud was leaving the immediate area of the small protest he was arrested for no apparent reason,” the party said in a short statement.
This is the first time the ruling party has offered any comment on the arrest of Persaud, who was reportedly charged one day after the incident. Efforts by this newspaper to contact Persaud on the issue were futile as he did not respond to an email sent to him. One source had told this newspaper that Persaud had been arrested for disorderly conduct, while responding to a group of vocal protestors gathered outside the venue.
However, according to the PPP release, after arresting Persaud police wrote his name from his driver’s license, using his first name as his surname and his middle name as his first name. The party said it was Persaud who pointed out this mistake to his attorney. “The whole story that he gave an incorrect name is completely untrue and baseless,” the party said.
The party called on the “media to report on this matter truthfully and without prejudice.”
