President Irfaan Ali in a statement on his Facebook page this morning said that Guyana’s High Commissioner to India, Charrandass Persaud is returning home following controversy over a video of him verbally abusing a woman in New Delhi last August.
The President did not announce the recall of Persaud as had been expected in these circumstances. Persaud is being allowed to leave the position of his own volition.
The President said he had not been able to attend to the video earlier yesterday as he had had a number of engagements. He related that he was later able to call Persaud at which time Persaud explained that the video in circulation was not the complete recording of the events and that he had been cleared in the investigation that had been done.
The President said that notwithstanding all of this, it was agreed between the two that in keeping with the interest of Guyana that Persaud would return to the country and that he accepted full responsibility for his actions.
Questions remain as to when the government became aware of this incident last year and what actions were taken immediately. Given that Persaud has immunity under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 it was not for the Indian authorities to investigate but for the government here to determine whether his conduct was obnoxious and warranted his immediate recall.
