Dear Editor,
Guyanese Attorney, Sanjeev Datadin, is carrying water in a basket for the Guyana Police Force.
It is in this context that Datadin has been writing in the press presenting nonsensical arguments to support fictitious and perjurious claims by the Guyana Police Force (GPF) that its officer, Rodwell Sarabo, and one Mark Wasserman, a private citizen in New York, purportedly served Mr. Rickford Burke with a summons from a Guyana Magistrate’s court.
Datadin must stop pretending to know the facts about the GPF espionage exercise at Mr. Burke’s Brooklyn residence on December 16, 2023. He was not an eyewitness. The GPF is lying to the public that this matter is about an alleged attempt to serve Mr. Burke with a Guyana court summons. Mr. Burke was not served with any documents. But this matter is not about a Guyana court summons. This is about a crime that was committed against the United States.
(i) No one served Mr. Burke with anything. Bharrat Jagdeo and the GPF claimed they have a video recording with a document being read to Mr. Burke and he responded that he understood. I dare the GPF and Sarabo to file an affidavit to that effect with any court.
(ii) I challenge the GPF to release the video, which they gave to Bharrat Jagdeo, to the public. I’m sure that Sarabo must have informed them that the environment in which he and his accomplice’s activities took place is under heavy surveillance. Hence, they are terrified to release the video they claim to have because the truth will be revealed.
(iii) On December 16, 2023, as Mr. Burke was departing his home, two unidentified men charged onto his premises and up his stairs. One shouted “Rickford Burke?” They both had guns. Mr. Burke ignored them and ordered them to leave his residence. They refused. Mr. Burke departed his residence and left the men on his stairs. The men have been identified as GPF officer Rodwell Sarabo and Mark Wasserman, a private citizen. Wasserman was later checking through Mr. Burke’s mail.
(iv) The men committed several breaches. Consequently, Mr. Burke reported the matter to the New York City Police Department (NYPD) which called in federal authorities.
(v) On December 21, the GPF issued a statement admitting that it sent the armed men to Mr. Burke’s home to perform Government of Guyana law enforcement duties, in violation of US federal law, as well as NY state law.
(vi) The GPF statement attempted to justify their illegal action by claiming that “the Magistrate ordered that the ‘defendant summons’ be prepared and served on Rickford Burke to attend the Vigilance Magistrate’s court on the 28th day of March 2024.”….. “As such, an Officer of the Guyana Police Force, ASP Rodwell Sarabo, left Guyana and travelled to the United States of America with both defendant summons in his possession.”… “On the 16th December 2023, ASP Rodwell Sarabo met with Mark Wesserman, a Process Server based in the United States of America and they served both defendant summons on Rickford Burke at his home… Both defendant summons were read to Rickford Burke and he said ‘he understood.’”
(vii) Nothing was read to Mr. Burke. Mr. Burke did not communicate with the men, except to order them off his property.
(viii) Notwithstanding the fact that nothing was served on Mr. Burke, let me state unequivocally that no court in Guyana has powers to issue a criminal summons to be served on a person outside Guyana’s borders. Moreover, no member of the GPF has extraterritorial powers to execute GPF functions or serve a court summons outside of Guyana. Further-more, no US law or treaty confers any such powers on Guyanese courts or Police officers. For Datadin to argue otherwise is just plain foolishness.
Sincerely,
Richard Millington, Esq
Director of Communications
Caribbean Guyana Institute for
Democracy (CGID)