Two Parliamentarians from the coalition A Partnership for National Unity-Alliance for Change (APNU-AFC) are among three persons recently charged under the cybercrime law for comments made on Facebook about a Government Minister and other persons.
Opposition MPs Sherod Duncan and Annette Ferguson, along with social media talk show host Gavin Matthews, have been charged with offences committed contrary to Section 19(3)(a) of the Cyber Crime Act — a law passed under the previous Coalition Government.
That section of the law states that a person commits an offence if he/she uses a computer system to disseminate any information, statement or image that causes damage to the reputation of another person, knowing same to be false; or subjects another person to public ridicule, contempt, hatred or embarrassment by the dissemination of such a statement, when they know same to be false.
If convicted, those charged face time in prison and hefty fines. In fact, a person who commits an offence under this section of the law renders himself/herself liable to the following penalties: (a) on summary conviction, to a fine of $5 million and to imprisonment for three years; and (b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine of $10 million and to imprisonment for five years.
Gavin Matthews
Police, in April 2021, arrested Matthews after he allegedly published a video on Facebook that was derogatory and intended to embarrass, humiliate, or cause emotional distress to Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr.
It is alleged that on March 25, 2021, without legal or lawful justification or excuse, Matthews, 44, of Charlotte Street Georgetown, used a computer system to publish electronic data about Ramson Jr. with intent to damage his reputation and corrupt public morals.
Matthews was formally charged on June 4, 2021, and was placed on $100,00 bail by the Chief Magistrate after denying the charge.
The Police contend that via a Facebook live, Matthews hurled a series of accusations against the Minister while criticising his affiliation with the PPP Government.
Annette Ferguson
On June 16, 2021, Ferguson was granted self-bail on a similar charge. Particulars of that charge allege that, on June 15, 2021, she used a computer system to humiliate Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Colonel Omar Khan.
The senior GDF rank is reported to have made a complaint with the Cyber Crime Unit after Ferguson, in a Facebook post, said he would be in charge of a killing squad. Her case is continuing in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts.
Sherod Duncan
Last month, APNU-AFC Member of Parliament Sherod Duncan was charged over his referring to Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Information Technology Manager Aneal Giddings as a “trench crappo” and a “jagabat”.
Duncan, 42, appeared before Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman at the Diamond/ Grove Magistrates’ Courts, where he pleaded not guilty to the charge and was released on $200,000 bail.
Duncan’s charge alleges that on January 11, 2022, without legal or lawful justification or excuse, he used a computer system to publish electronic data about Giddings with intent to humiliate, embarrass, or cause him emotional distress.
Police Headquarters said Giddings filed a report in which he stated that Duncan, who hosts the ‘In the Ring’ programme on Facebook, called him by name and referred to him as ‘jagabat’, ‘trench crappo’, and other names.
Giddings also claimed that Duncan’s utterances have caused him significant emotional distress and humiliation.
