The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has advised the police not to institute any charge against President of the Guyana Women Miners Organisa-tion (GWMO) Simona Broomes.
Broomes, who was being investigated by the force following allegations of theft and assault by trafficking in persons (TIP) accused Ann-Marie Carter, was told this yesterday when she met Inspector Percival and another officer in the company of her lawyer Raphael Trotman at Police Headquarters, Eve Leary. She told Stabroek News that she was contacted by the force and invited to visit and during the brief encounter she was given the good news.
Thanking God, an elated Broomes said because she was innocent, she had confidence that she would have been vindicated at the end of the day.
Broomes was arrested on August 26 and held at Eve Leary for hours. On the advice of the DPP, by way of a letter published in this newspaper, Broomes had lodged an official complaint with the DPP’s Chambers as she felt she was being targeted and harassed.
Yesterday she thanked the DPP for giving her that opportunity and for allowing justice to prevail as she is certainly no thief nor did she assault anyone.
“I did not assault that young lady. I did not have a 9 mm in my hand and did not hit her with one. What I did was rescued females from her shop and during this I was being attacked by her and her fiancée…” Broomes maintained.
She thanked the many organisations that supported her publicly during her ordeal including the Guyana Human Rights Organisation (GHRA), Help & Shelter, S4, the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association, Trotman was also thanked along with attorneys Nigel Hughes and Joe Harmon, the many churches that prayed for her especially Pastor Massiah and his congregation.
“I also want to thank my kids. They have felt my pain and supported me throughout and my members, my mother and my sisters and brothers,” Broomes said.
Following the public outcry against the police action as it pertained to Broomes the police had issued a detailed statement indicating that there was evidence to support the assault allegation made against Broomes by her accuser, who was charged with a number of counts of human trafficking due to Broomes’ work. Carter has also been charged with assault, including the assault of Broomes.
According to the police, upon being arrested, Carter alleged that she was “brutally assaulted,” including with the use of firearms, by Broomes and other persons in her company. “Her allegations were supported by a medical report and eyewitnesses,” police said, while adding that following the allegations Broomes was interviewed by the police and placed on bail. Police said the force’s actions have been in keeping with professionalism and were not bent on intimidation nor intended to place any blemish on Broomes’ record and her reputation.
However, in her counter statement Broomes had accused the police of a “glaring” lack of professionalism and had said the allegations against her were intended to intimidate.
In her statement she had also revealed that she had been receiving e-mail threats and a recent indication that her children “would not be spared” had left her alarmed and scared.
While police had claimed that Carter’s allegations were made upon her arrest in August, after she had evaded arrest for months following the April 21 date of the alleged altercation, Broomes had pointed out that police records would show that Carter was first arrested in June and charged with a trafficking related offence on June 28. She was initially remanded to prison but later granted bail. Carter was in court again on August 19 charged with another trafficking offence and on August 21 she was charged with assaulting Broomes. The GWMO leader had said Carter did not make any allegations against her when she was first arrested in June and questioned why she waited almost two months to make such allegations.
