Protests continued yesterday at Belladrum, West Coast Berbice over the detention of District 4 Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo and the Guyana Police Force (GPF) last evening called on those culpable to clear the roadway or it would “use all lawful means” to do so.
The GPF also appealed to members of the public to be on the watch for fake social media pages following reports on a page purporting to be that of the force, that APNU+AFC parliamentarians were wanted for protesting at Belladrum.
“The Guyana Police Force wishes to bring to the attention of the general public that a Facebook account purporting to be managed by the Force which published a post under the caption “IMPORTANT WANTED BULLETIN” for Former Director of Sports, Christopher Jones and Mr. Sherod Duncan is FAKE,” the police yesterday said in a statement.
“It should be noted that neither Mr. Jones nor Mr. Duncan is wanted by the Guyana Police Force. Such post can only be deemed malicious with the intention of promoting disorder in the society,” it added.
The police’s statement came on the heels of protests at Belladrum during the course of yesterday, as pockets of residents took to the main roadway to protest the detention and charging of Mingo, who was on Saturday slapped with four counts of misconduct in public office. He is to appear in court today.
During the protests, the main access way was blocked as persons formed a barricade and then later placed objects across the road. At one point, video showed a group of persons lifting a small abandoned wooden shop and placing it on the road and at another they lit material and a fire burned.
The APNU+AFC carried live videos of the protests.
Under the directive of the district’s Police Commander Edmond Cooper, police ranks were called out to clear the roadway and the numbers of protestors fell as the day progressed. Police removed debris from the roadway and pleaded with persons to disperse as it also pointed to health and safety concerns amid COVID-19.
It is unclear if anyone was arrested as calls to Cooper’s phone last evening went unanswered.
But the GPF warned that it will take action if persons continue to break the law.
“Moreover, the gathering of protestors and the miles-long build-up of traffic on both sides of the road at Belladrum are a clear violation of the Covid-19 guidelines which are currently in place as part of Government’s efforts to mitigate the effects and spread of the global pandemic in Guyana, thereby endangering the lives of tens of thousands of Guyanese. The Guyana Police Force is therefore encouraging those who have been engaging in these illegal protests to immediately desist from continuing in these activities that will only serve to disrupt the normal lives of the residents of the village of Belladrum in particular and the entire country in general,” the police said.
“The Police Force maintains that the detention of Mr. Mingo in custody is lawful as ruled upon by the High Court in an Application filed by Mr. Mingo’s Attorney Darren Wade for Habeas Corpus Ad Subjiciendum. The Police wish to inform that it will use all lawful means necessary to clear the public roadway at Belladrum of all unlawful obstructions in order to make it safe for use by the citizens of Guyana,” it added.
‘No business’
The police’s appeal for law and order came as Guyana’s Attorney General Anil Nandlall questioned the opposition’s rallying around and support for Mingo, an employee of an apolitical constitutional organization that the past government had hailed as independent.
Yesterday, presumptive Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon visited Mingo at the Sparendaam Police Station where he was being held.
APNU+AFC said Harmon was accompanied by former Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson and attorneys-at-law Roysdale Forde SC and Darren Wade.
Harmon said he was supporting Mingo’s family in their position that he is being held wrongfully.
“We are fully supporting them, we are supporting the village and we will not allow our supporters and for that matter any Guyanese people to be abused, their rights violated under the direction by this fraudulent government,” he said.
Nandlall said that he could not understand the reasoning behind the opposition’s persistent support of Mingo and the supporting of protest actions, unless they were working in cahoots. “After all, GECOM is independent. Mr. Harmon et al, have absolutely no business in interfering with one independent constitutional agency (GECOM) being investigated by another independent constitutional agency (GPF). However, this reaction by Mr. Harmon presents the platform for all to draw relevant inferences and arrive at likely conclusions, in relation to the interest that Mr. Harmon et al may have in the investigations. That Mr. Mingo’s lawyers happen to be two APNU candidates and that known APNU candidates and activists are mobilizing persons to block the road at Belladrum – all lend to the thickening of the conspiracy,” he said.
The Attorney General believes the actions of the APNU+AFC executives now reveal that they were hypocritical when they upheld the independence of GECOM and vowed not to interfere with its working.
“However, everyone knew that despite these sanctimonious asseverations, there were elements within GECOM who were working in concert, to undermine the democratic process, presumably, carrying out the design of puppet masters pulling the strings from outside of GECOM. Unfortunately, they did not succeed. Thankfully so”, he said.
Further, he added, “…The truth is that they have no real cards left in the pack to play, so they resort to fabricating baseless allegations against the investigators that Mr. Mingo’s constitutional rights are being violated. The public would have witnessed Mr. Mingo’s lawyer in and out of Eve Leary with unusual frequency through the medium of the Press. Many have heard him speak to the Press about the engagements he has had with his client. The Guyana Police Force (GPF) issued a Public Statement denouncing allegations that the Police is not affording Mr. Mingo, access to his lawyers.”
To Harmon, Nandlall said that he should not publicly proffer the view that Mingo’s detention is illegal as the police’s actions were already proven legally sound.
“Mr. Mingo has filed two separate Habeas Corpus Applications within 48 hours of each other, a world record. The Constitutional Court of the land has rejected them both; pronouncing in each that Mr. Mingo’s detention is lawful. Every first-year law student would understand why. So should Mr. Harmon, a lawyer of over two decades standing. However, it is the fear of Mr. Mingo’s singing that is inspiring the pandemonium. Nothing else,” Nandlall said.
