Dear Editor,
On Friday June 8th, Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) employee, Jermain Hermanstyne, appeared in Georgetown Magistrate’s Court #2, charged with using threatening language to Patrick Yarde, President of the Guyana Public Service Union. His appearance was witnessed by several persons. No mention of this matter was carried in the media.
One might have thought, Editor, that a case of that nature in the Magistrate’s Court, involving the President of a prominent Trade Union, would have attracted the particular attention of your court reporters. This, particularly, since, over time, much coverage has been afforded Mr. Hermanstyne’s versions of events pertaining to his efforts to vilify Mr. Yarde.
Sections of the print media had previously reported on versions of events provided by Mr. Hermanstyne pertaining to his attempts to smear Mr. Yarde in his capacity as President of the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), and as a member of the management committee of the GPSCCU and to seek, deliberately, to create divisions within the Branches of the Union and members of the credit union. To falsely claim occurrences, to say the least, to which there is documentation which contains information to the contrary.
Against that background, I feel compelled to enquire as to whether the omission of Mr. Hermanstyne’s appearance before the Magistrate’s Court is a matter of objective editorial decision-making or whether its exclusion is a matter of calculated prejudice, in which case I feel compelled to protest the bias that appears to inhere in this omission.
It would be appreciated if you favour this note with publication at the earliest possible time along with your response.
Yours faithfully,
Morty Livan
Editor’s note: Stabroek News was not aware of this case.
