Dear Editor,
I note that within a day of the beating, robbing and burning of properties of innocent Indo-Guyanese resulting from the protest by Afro-Guyanese for the shooting of Quinton Bacchus by a policeman, sixteen individuals were charged for riotous behaviour and appeared in court. One pleaded guilty and was fined $20,000 and the others pleaded not guilty and were placed on bail at $15,000 each. I want to believe that His Worship, the magistrate, who presided over these cases imposed the appropriate fine and bail amounts as allowed by the law for the charge instituted. However, when I consider the fate of the victims who suffered at the hands of protestors, these amounts do not even amount to a slap on the wrist and certainly will not act as a deterrent for any such acts in the future. This leads me to the obvious question: Was the correct charge laid by the police?
Over the years I have observed that generally in Guyana, before a charge is laid by the police, the file is sent to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for legal advice. This process usually takes more than a week, at times several weeks or months. In this instance, the individuals were charged and brought to trial one day after the mayhem. Was the Office of the DPP involved in providing legal advice on the charge? The most important responsibility of any government is to protect its citizens. Less than two years ago innocent Indo-Guyanese suffered similar beating, robbery and property damage as they traversed the public highway in West Coast Berbice. On that occasion, as far as I am aware, no one was ever charged for any of the offences. This time around, only a handful of individuals were brought before the court and the penalty so far is like a bad joke.
Sincerely,
Harry Hergash
