Dear Editor,
I cut to the chase. Is the police action at the home of Ms. Melissa Atwell’s relatives, a preview of things pending re the much-discussed proposed amendments to Guyana’s Cybercrime law? Is this PPP Government tormentor being made into the first crude manifestation of how those proposed changes would work? The concerns cover the clandestine way that arms of the State were lined up against a citizen to the possible chilling message intended for others of Ms. Atwell’s kind. One three-part question has powerful bearing: Who is next, by what means next, from what source next, and when next?
I put something unambiguously and in sunshine on the public table. When people break the law, they deserve full and legit police inspection. No if, ands, or buts; no equivocating. No excuse. No exception. But only when solid grounds exist that lawbreaking has occurred. Lawbreaking is the only consideration, the only discussion, the only element on which police decisions develop, police actions initiated. To reiterate: no other considerations must be involved, be they political, personal, or institutional. Whether government critic, or opposition asset, or ruling party storm trooper, none of those should have any bearing on who attracts police attention. When laws are violated, society must be repaid.
First reports are that a sack of illicit substance was found in a nearby alley.
When matters stretch so precariously, support becomes scarce. Some corroborations for this position have emerged from the heights of the Guyana Police Force (GPF). The GPF top brass, other than the acting Deputy Commissioner Budhram, was not in the loop. Top Cop Hicken was not informed, nor top crime sleuth Blanhum, nor the top operations officer.
Was informing Deputy Commissioner Budhram all that was required? Is this a standing procedure, relative to an operation that involved more than the usual sensitivity? Does this mean that any officer with sufficient standing and special connectivity could contemplate (on his own presumably) and then conduct unhindered such a swoop and search operation?
What circle of circumstances prompted the Asst Superintendent that approached the court for a search warrant, and surreptitiously, even internally? I ponder how the lynchpins of democracy strengthen under such conditions, and how autocracy is absent. There is difficulty seeing how the GPF can run itself professionally and efficiently in such situations. Pointedly, who else in Guyana should brace themselves for similar police hustle and police heat? Should people like me view the GPF as an unsheathed weapon ready to derail, teach a lesson, and bring down? Or as a protective law enforcement wall with my lawful interests at heart?
It would be interesting to hear what the Attorney General, Mr. Anil Nandlall has to offer on the GPF-Atwell development. I contend that what has unfolded so far in this Atwell family raid appears less about the law, less of the hallmarks of democracy, and more about intrusive, invasive autocracy. What may be thought of as a “shade” by some is the equivalent of a meteor shower for others. It would help if Guyana’s chief marshal of law and order, Mr. Nandlall, weighs-in about whether this was bona fide GPF pursuit, or police perversity.
I am weighing whether the Atwell family search was part of a sound GPF plan, or if it was either a plant, or a small picture of things pending. As said before, and reemphasized here, I am all for any action that upholds the law, regardless of who is involved. In the next breath, I am totally against any vision or plan to push protestors and exposers and objectors out to pasture. There is more than what meets the eye in this troubling, still largely obscured, police pursuit of part of the Melissa Atwell (‘Melly Mel’) extended family.
Another question stirs. How is it that only a certain type of citizen is on the receiving end of GPF intelligence, GPF priorities, and GPF power? The record of recent history is of a pronounced tilt in the direction of those who talk too much and write too much. And in both instances, expose too much and embarrass the powers that be too much. In a normal climate and environment, I may label such a series of unrelated GPF episodes as accidental. Since there is nothing normal about Guyana’s standards and Guyana’s now well entrenched way of life, the accidental is cast out the window, with the sinister serving as muscular replacement.
Who is next, by what means next, and when will the next target float in sight? Did what take place at the Atwell family residence provide a preview of things to come (against the backdrop of an amended Cybercrime law)? Or does this embody professional law enforcement activity at its finest, its most wholesome expression?
Sincerely,
GHK Lall