News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. Aug. 10, 2012: The New York-based Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy is slamming what it claims is “a back-door attempt by the ruling Peoples Progressive Party of Guyana to investigate organizers of the July 18th Linden protests.
The PPP wants an additional term of reference added to the Commission of Inquiry that will inquire “into the role and involvement” of “other forces” in organizing, mobilizing and promoting the protest actions from their commencement and immediately after the shooting on July 18th 2012.”
“This is a back-door attempt by the PPP regime to investigate organizers of the protests, who broke no law and committed no crime. The only crimes committed were the murder and unlawful shooting of unarmed, innocent citizens by Police officers,” said CGID President Rickford Burke. “This term is unacceptable is even more acceptable as it contemplates the criminalization of legitimate protest and opposition dissent. Organizing, promoting and mobilizing citizens for a protest is not unlawful or criminal. No government has the power to investigate the exercise of a constitutional right.”
He added that the PPP government only intent on investigating citizens exercising their constitutional right to peaceful assembly and free speech is to further its malicious aggression against the Afro-Guyanese citizens of Linden.
“The inquiry must be into the unjustifiable shooting to death – murder, of the three citizens; the unjustifiable wounding of two dozens others and who issued the orders to shoot, and that only,” he added.
Three men were shot to death on July 18th while protesting electricity hikes in their hometown of Linden. Several others were wounded after Guyana police opened fire on the protestors.
