Leader of the Opposition Aubrey Norton yesterday called for the police officer who fatally shot 23-year-old Quindon Bacchus to be charged with murder.
Norton made the call following Tuesday’s protest calling for justice for Bacchus. The father of one was shot by Police on June 10 at the Haslington New Scheme, East Coast Demerara (ECD). The officer was initially placed on close arrest but on Monday, his mother approached the Court challenging his detention. This resulted in him being placed on open arrest where he was confined to Police Headquarters, Eve Leary.
The Guyana Daily News had reported that the Officer was released from custody and that incensed persons and resulted in Tuesday’s protest. The protest started at Golden Grove and cascaded down the East Coast corridor where it became fiery and violent. The protestors blocked off the road in several villages and lit debris to prevent the movement of traffic. They also looted and assaulted vendors at the Mon Repos Market.
At a press conference yesterday, Norton said that the protest has again exposed several serious problems with the state of the country. He charged that the country is in a governance crisis and all confidence in the police and justice is lost.
He said that if the issues remain unaddressed then the country will plunge further into a crisis in governance. Norton noted that the police’s handling of the Bacchus investigation has caused many to lose faith in justice.
“The longstanding operational deficiencies of the GPF have now been exacerbated by the direct meddling in and politicization of the force,” he said.
Norton accused the government of meddling in the operations of the Police Force.
“Quindon Bacchus tragically is the latest victim of this police rogue-ism. The APNU+AFC demands that the accused be treated as a murder suspect and not as a rank who is facing a routine disciplinary matter. Enough time has passed for murder charges to be laid and for the accused to face the full brunt of the law. The family of Quindon Bacchus deserves justice,” Norton told reporters.
On Tuesday, taking note of the “upsurge of the events along the East Coast corridor,” the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) issued a statement urging the public to remain calm as it wraps up its probe.
The statement, signed by PCA Chair-man Justice (Ret’d) William Ramlal, explained that there are statutory procedures that must be followed.
The statement said that following the fatal shooting, the Commissioner of Police acted promptly and immediately assigned a senior investigator, under the direct supervision of Justice Ramlal, to investigate. “Consequently, the investigation by the Police Complaints Authority in collaboration with the Office of Professional Responsibility has been progressing rapidly. A thorough investigation is necessary in order to ensure a free, fair and transparent finding. As such, all the protocols must be observed and the outcome of that process would be communicated in due course,” it added.
President Irfaan Ali said that the PCA should be ready with its report by Monday following which it will be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions for advice.
The Opposition Leader also said that the police’s indiscriminate firing of pellets and bullets into crowds must stop.
Stabroek News, since Tuesday, has been pressing the Guyana Police Force to confirm whether it did use rubber pellets and tear gas to quell the protests but has been largely ignored. Head of the Corporate Communications Unit Mark Ramotar had said that he does not “have the luxury to sacrifice quality or accuracy of information at the altars of speed or expediency. In some cases, there are bugbears in the channel/flow of information.”
Meanwhile, Norton said that the use of force is ineffective and counterproductive.
“As we stated Tuesday that while we reaffirm the right of citizens to engage in peaceful protests in their fight for justice, liberty, and equality, we condemn all acts of violence and criminality. Such acts only serve to undermine and distract from the legitimate aims of the protest action,” he added.
Compensation
On Wednesday, President Ali said that the government has commenced compensating the Mon Repos Market vendors who were looted, assaulted and had their property destroyed during Tuesday’s protest. He said that the process commenced on Wednesday since many of the vendors needed to get back to the market since it was their only source of income.
Several vendors were beaten, robbed and had their property destroyed by some of the protesters. Ali had met with them on Tuesday afternoon where he promised full compensation.
“We have started [to assess the damages suffered by some of the vendors] and we have even started to give some compensation because a lot of the people had to go back to [their] livelihood because they don’t have any capital to get back to their livelihoods [we started compensating them]”, Ali said.
He said that it is an ongoing exercise and the government is committed to ensuring that every aggrieved vendor is compensated. When asked about where the money is coming from and what is the estimated cost of the total compensation package, Ali said that the answer will be provided at the end of the process.
Norton said that while he supports the decision to compensate, there must be accountability and also called for the packages to be extended to other villages.
“We support the decision to compensate all who are affected by the acts of banditry at Mon Repos and other places for their loss of property and business assets. We also call on the government to compensate those people who had their properties shot up by the Guyana Police Force…in Golden Grove. They need compensation as well if it is One Guyana.
“We take this opportunity to call on government to also assist those persons with a monetary ‘resettlement’ grant whose roadside business stalls it intends to bulldoze though we prefer them to not be bulldozed. It is unfortunate the government is returning to the Robeson Benn failed approach. Lastly, all Guyanese must condemn the threat to the President’s life regardless of the circumstances,” Norton said.
Marvin Richmond called ‘Walkie’ was arrested after he threatened to kill the President during Tuesday’s protest. The Police said that the 35-year-old of Lot 161 Sealey Street, Golden Grove is suffering from mental illness and has been treated by a psychiatrist on several occasions.
