Dear Editor,
I wish to specifically respond to the allegation made by APNU+AFC Councillor, Carol Joseph, that I assaulted her `I deny Mr Gill’s claims and will continue to press for an apology to the President’ (SN April 26, 2016). But first, I wish to admit that I wrongfully accused her of being the one that was verbally abusive to me after I instructed the PPP/C Councillors of the Woodlands/ Bel Air Local Authority Area to walk out of the kangaroo proceedings held at the NDC office at Number 8 Village, WCB. The person who in fact shouted at me from the top of the stairway as I left the NDC office was APNU+AFC Parliamentarian Jennifer Wade. For this only, I apologise to Councillor Carol Joseph.
But in the letter recently published in the media citing her participation and the behaviour of the protestors, Carol Joseph wrote that “the picketing exercise was very peaceful.” This is a barefaced lie that could not be further from the truth.
The entire thuggish behaviour of the APNU+AFC “protestors” was recorded on cameras by journalists from various news organizations, and witnessed by several police officers attached to the nearby Fort Wellington Police Station. Understandably, the Guyana Chronicle was the only newspaper that did not report the hostility that took place that morning, but focused instead on the Regional Chairman of Region 5 not attending a ceremony to hand over two school buses earlier this year. Even the mouthpiece of the ruling APNU+AFC Administration did not report on an alleged assault on the APNU+AFC Councillor, Carol Joseph, because it never happened.
Kaieteur News (April 23) reported, “The Regional Chairman was refused entry into the boardroom compound to conduct the statutory meeting by the hostile crowd who began standing in front of his vehicle blocking entry and chanting, “Chairman must go”. The police were subsequently summoned to disperse the hostile crowd when they began banging on the Chairman’s vehicle motioning him to exit.” The photograph that accompanied this article did not describe Carol Joseph as lying in pain in front of the Chairman’s vehicle from an assault by Harry Gill, instead it was appropriately captioned “APNU/AFC Councillor Carol Joseph sits in front of the Chairman’s vehicle.” I have photographic evidence of this.
Stabroek News reported, “When Ramphal’s vehicle approached the compound on Thursday, the APNU+AFC protestors stood in front of the vehicle and refused to move. (Carol) Joseph threw herself on the ground, lying in front of the chairman’s vehicle, in an effort to stop him from entering.” Similarly, the explanation given by Stabroek News for Carol Joseph lying on the ground, was not because she felt a sharp pain which caused her to fall in front of the Chairman’s vehicle that she is claiming, but that she deliberately, “threw herself on the ground, lying in front of the chairman’s vehicle, in an effort to stop him from entering.”
Editor, if there was any truth in Carol Joseph’s allegation that I hit her with my elbow on her breast, all of the news outlets that published articles of this event would have had a bold sensational headline on the front page that reads, “PPP Parliamentarian assaults APNU+AFC Region 5 Councillor.” But in none of the reports that I’ve seen was my name ever mentioned, even as being allegedly accused of assaulting the APNU+AFC agitator. I can assure you that newspapers in Guyana are not reputed for making such a serious omission. With such a massive press presence, surely Joseph is politically savvy enough to seize the opportunity to give a statement to the press, she did not because it never happened.
I applaud the decision by Commander of Police B Division, Assistant Commissioner Ian Amsterdam, to institute charges against Carol Joseph for disorderly conduct, and I hope there will be no political interference in this matter.
It is ironic that while Carol Joseph insists that the Regional Chairman apologise for “disrespecting” the President, she demonstrates that she is untouchable and above the law by blatantly ignoring repeated commands by senior police officer, Inspector Charles Hook, to get up from the ground, and allow the Chairman’s vehicle to enter the RDC compound to conduct the people’s business.
Carol Joseph can lie all she wants, but I am in possession of video footage that shows this woman energetically motivating the crowd into a frenzy shortly after I allegedly elbowed her. Then I have more footage of her sitting in the path of the Chairman’s vehicle, and not once did she rub the spot where she was allegedly elbowed. Neither did she once accuse me on video or at any other time of hitting her. Anyone that knows Carol Joseph would testify in the typical Guyanese idiom that “her mouth don’t have cover.” She is loud, rude, warlike and very disrespectful. There is no way I could have even breathe too hard on this woman without risking serious injuries at the hands of angry protestors she controlled.
Editor, I am a respectable citizen; a Member of Parliament; Justice of the Peace; and Commissioner of Oaths to Affidavits. I have resisted a lot of temptation and avoided lots of potential conflicts over the years to keep my impeccable reputation intact. I will never do anything to bring shame and disgrace upon myself nor my family. For this reason, I am very protective of the image that I present to others, and will not allow Carol Joseph to impugn my character.
I was advised by my lawyers that the content of the letter written by APNU+AFC Region 5 Councillor, Carol Joseph published recently in the media is libelous, and I’m advised to pursue legal action against her. I am giving her an opportunity to redeem herself by retracting the libelous statement she gave to the police at Fort Wellington, and made in her letter to the press. Failing which I will be left with no other recourse than to file a civil lawsuit against her. Her apology should take the form of another letter in the local newspapers, in which she will admit making a false report to the Fort Wellington Police Station against me.
If this is done, the matter will be considered closed. And if, in the spirit of social cohesion, the police choose not to prosecute her for making a false report, I will have no problem with that.
Yours faithfully,
Harry Gill MP