Two days after a live grenade was lobbed near the vehicle of Kaieteur News’ publisher, bomb experts have destroyed and disposed of the explosive device and the Guyana Press Association (GPA) and the Private Sector Commission are calling on the police to conduct an in-depth investigation.
Contacted yesterday for an update, Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum informed Stabroek News that during yesterday the bomb experts were able to destroy and dispose of the grenade at the Kingston seawall.
However, when asked what police felt may have been the motive for the act, Blanhum said, “It is premature at this point in time to pronounce on any motive.”
The grenade was on Saturday night lobbed outside the offices of the Kaieteur News at Saffon Street, Charlestown, where staff had gathered for a wake for senior reporter Dale Andrews, 47, who died on Saturday morning due to heart complications.
The device, which did not explode, was thrown at a vehicle, belonging to Kaieteur News’ publisher Glenn Lall, which was parked in front of the building at the time.
This newspaper was told by a source that the device was hurled from a grey car, which was described as a Toyota Spacio. It landed near one of the front wheels of Lall’s vehicle.
Surveillance footage was obtained and has since been reviewed, but according to a reliable source, investigators were unable to identity suspects as the footage was distorted.
The GPA yesterday in a statement issued called on the Guyana Police Force to execute an in-depth investigation into the presence of the grenade.
It said regardless of the motive, the act has a chilling effect on press freedom. “We take this opportunity to call on the intellectual authors and/or perpetrators to desist from such a dastardly act,” the release said
“All stakeholders in the international community, opposition, government and civil society must speak out against what seems like a calculated act to intimidate the work of Kaieteur News.”
The GPA noted the government’s prompt statement condemning the attack and of its full support to the Guyana Police Force in the investigations.
The Private Sector Commission has strongly condemned the attack. The PSC, in a statement, described the act as a “heinous attempt to muzzle the media” while stating that “such actions have no place in our democratic society and we urge the Guyana Police Force to expedite their investigation so as to bring the perpetrators to justice in the shortest possible time.”
