The Ministry of Home Affairs has flayed the police over the probe into the swimming pool death of Sideek Juman last year and says it is anticipating that decisive action would be taken by the force to satisfy the matters detailed by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
In a press statement, the ministry expressed its dissatisfaction with the pace of the investigation into the death of Juman, whose body was found in a swimming pool at the Double Day Hotel, Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo on November 19, 2012.
The statement said that in April, the Minister of Home Affairs had met the dead man’s mother, Farida Juman and uncle, Marzaban Juman. The Jumans insisted that Sideek was murdered but had received conflicting reports concerning the progress of the investigations.
Following this meeting the ministry wrote to the DPP requesting a status report on the investigation. The DPP advised the ministry that her chambers had requested the file in respect of Juman after reading of his untimely demise in the newspapers. She declared that the investigations conducted by the police were severely lacking and therefore the file had been returned to the police for further investigations.
The statement said that in trying to determine the progress made by the police in response to the instructions from the DPP, the ministry formally wrote to the Commissioner of Police (Ag) who responded in a letter received by the ministry on May 24, 2013, stating that the DPP had again returned the investigative file to the police, highlighting the critical issues that needed to be clarified and accordingly requested further investigations into the death.
The Home Affairs Ministry stated that “the investigation seems to be hampered by incompetence and apathy displayed by the investigative ranks within the criminal investigative institution in Guyana. This attitude is not an isolated anomaly, but is symptomatic of an organisation that does not seem to appreciate that failure to resolve serious crimes swiftly, comprehensively and efficiently paints the Guyana Police Force in a negative light.”
