Contempt such as Ambassador Hardt is accused of in relation to the Head of State is a serious matter. In 1631, in one of the earliest reported cases of contempt, a prisoner, condemned for felony, threw a brick at the judge that narrowly missed. An indictment was there and then drawn against him, immediately upon which his right hand was cut off and fixed to the gallows. He was then taken and hanged in the presence of the court. (The Due Process of Law by Lord Denning p 5, courtesy of Mr Siand Durjohn, in-service law student at Cameron & Shepherd).
Ambassador Hardt should therefore consider himself very lucky to get away with only what Dr Luncheon described as a ‘feral blast’ by a ‘warrior.’ Feral indeed! As for being a ‘warrior,’ the United States itself may soon be in jeopardy with the number of warriors, the President included, in and around the Guyana Cabinet. Maybe we can live without the United States, but what if Guyana’s warriors declare war on all of its tormentors at the same time – the US, Canada, UK and the whole of Europe?
The principle of non-interference in the affairs of one state by another, crystalized by the UN Charter, has been invoked in defence of sovereignty on numerous occasions since the end of the Second World War. During the Cold War the West carried out a persistent campaign against the lack of freedom, free elections, a free press, freedom of