The Government of Guyana (GoG) yesterday said that it was informed that Rickford Burke, a Guyanese residing in Brooklyn, New York, lodged a formal complaint with a Department within the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) alleging that the GoG is persecuting him among other things and it said it has also written the US State Department and the FBI refuting the claims against it.
In a statement, the government said it is pleased that Burke has engaged the law enforcement agencies in the United States on this matter as the same has received the attention of the law enforcement agencies in Guyana and the matter is currently before courts here.
In consequence, by a letter dated July 27 th, 2024, the statement said that the GoG responded to this report refuting the allegations of Burke as absolutely false and wholly unfounded and considers them to constitute a malicious attack on the integrity, reputation, good name and international standing of the Government of Guyana. This letter was addressed to the Desk Officer for Guyana, US Department of State and copied to the FBI, a number of functionaries within the US Department of State, the Department of Justice, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, and the United States Ambassador to Guyana.
In the aforementioned letter, the Government of Guyana apprised the US officials of the following allegations against Burke:
-using his Facebook Page, Burke has been, inter alia, libelling, maligning and attacking the reputation, goodwill and good name of a number of business entities in Guyana, under the pretext that he is protecting consumers and customers of these business entities from alleged abuse, exploitation and sharp practices by these business entities;
-as a result of investigations and after a thorough investigation by members of the Guyana Police Force and based upon legal advice received from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, an independent constitutional office, Burke and other persons were charged with two counts of the following extortion offence: a. Conspiracy to Commit a Felony, Contrary to Section 33 of the Criminal Law (Offences) Act, Chapter 8:01 committed on Afras Mohamed which occurred between the 27th day of August, 2022 and the 23rd day of September 2022; and
– these charges the GoG noted are pending before a Magistrate in the District in which the offences were allegedly committed;
– the Magistrate, upon an examination of the charges, issued a summons to be served upon Burke by the Guyana Police Force, authorised by the relevant criminal statute to do so, so that Burke is notified of the date and time of the hearing of the said charge and to permit him the opportunity to answer the charges;
– in order to serve the said summons on Burke, a duly authorised officer of the Guyana Police Force travelled to New York and retained the services of a licensed Legal Process Server in New York, duly authorised to serve such documents, to effect service of the document on Mr. Burke this was done;
– Burke accepted service of the documents from the said licensed Legal Process Server on the stairs of his premises in Brooklyn, New York and this entire process was video recorded by the Police Officer from the Guyana Police Force who was standing over 100 feet away across the street from Burke’s premises where the service was effected; and
– the said legal proceedings are still pending before the Courts of Guyana.
From the above narrative, the government statement said that it is clear that the government played no part whatsoever in the aforementioned case.
“It is simply a citizen of Guyana taking such legal steps necessary and available to him under the laws of and Constitution of Guyana, to protect himself and his business from what he considers to be” illicit conduct on the part of Burke.
Further, the Guyana Police Force, the principal law enforcement agency of the State, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Judiciary, all constitutional independent agencies, “have simply discharged their constitutional and legal duties which devolve upon them by the laws and Constitution of Guyana”.
The statement added that the government has invited the FBI to thoroughly investigate the complaint made by Mr. and if it is found that it is baseless ”we hereby request that the Federal Bureau of Investigation take the appropriate actions against Mr. Burke”.
The statement said that the Go views this matter very seriously and is already in consultation with lawyers in the United States of America seeking the appropriate legal advice with a view of pursuing legal redress against Burke.
It must be emphasized, the statement said, that while Burke is lodging baseless complaints against the GoG with the law enforcement agencies in the US, at the same time, through lawyers, he has filed civil proceedings in the courts of Guyana designed to prevent the hearing and determination of the criminal charges instituted against him. “One would have expected him to willingly appear before the criminal courts in order to vindicate his innocence rather than attempt to avoid those proceedings”, the GoG added.
Further, the Government of Guyana has lodged a comprehensive report against Burke with the US Department of Justice, the US State Department, the FBI and other agencies within the US regarding his utterances and publications on the social media, malicious and defamatory attacks on the character and reputation of hundreds of outstanding Guyanese. These authorities, it said, have been invited to explore all mutual legal facilities available in ensuring that these allegations are fully investigated and the relevant criminal proceedings instituted in both jurisdictions in order to ensure that justice is done in accordance with law.
