In light of nine persons being charged and placed before the courts on Monday for the June 2022 unrest at Mon Repos, East Coast Demerara, those actors who were similarly involved in the protests at Buxton and Hopetown earlier this month are likely to face a similar fate.
This is according to Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall, SC, who posited that the State has a duty to maintain law and order, and to ensure those who take the law into their own hands are dealt with.
On February 1, an operation conducted by the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) wherein a man was arrested with a large quantity of marijuana resulted in several hours of protest action by residents of Buxton, ECD.
Persons took to the main road to protest the arrest of the suspect – who is well known in the community. They gathered on the roadway and burnt debris, while a truck driver was pulled from his truck and his vehicle was set alight. Another driver of a Canter that was transporting wood was also attacked, and had his windshield damaged as debris was thrown at him.
“That lead to some type of outpouring of disorder [on] the roadways of Buxton. Persons there would be charged as well,” the Attorney General stated.
Less than a week later, on February 5, another protest erupted at Hopetown, West Coast Berbice (WCB) following an accident which left two persons from the area injured. The driver of the vehicle was badly beaten by residents and his vehicle was set on fire. The main access road was also blocked.
“The Police are investigating and hopefully, charges will emanate therefrom as well because there again persons took the law into their own hands and began to assault a driver, who may have driven recklessly… and did cause an accident,” Nandlall noted.
This announcement of possible charges against those persons in the two instances of unrest earlier this month comes on the heels of nine men being arraigned at the Sparendaam Magistrate Courts on terrorism-related charges on Monday.
They are accused of using wood and other materials to block, burn, and damage the public road between Golden Grove and Mon Repos, ECD, on June 28, 2022 with the intent to strike terror.
These nine persons surrendered after the Guyana Police Force had issued wanted bulletins last week for 12 males in relation to the incident, which was sparked by protest action against the fatal shooting of an ECD man, Quindon Bacchus, during a Police sting operation in June last year.
AG Nandlall reminded that during the unrest, protesters not only blocked the public road and burned debris but also set alight vehicles, robbed commuters as well as persons at the Mon Repos Market, and looted and destroyed stalls and businesses in the market and its surroundings – all of which, he said, were done with impunity.
“Persons were simply pulling things off people’s stalls and walking off with them and throwing them in vehicles, and driving off with them – wholesale highway robbery. That cannot be conduct which any lawful society will condone and countenance. That is conduct that must be condemned in the strongest possible fashion and any society government by the rule of law must visit those types of behaviour with the strongest of criminal charges and consequent sanctions.
According to the Attorney General, the legal advisors felt that the ‘terrorism charge’ was appropriate for the actions carried out by these persons. He added that while persons have expressed disquiet over the $300,000 bail granted to the nine accused, this decision by the Judiciary has to be respected.
However, he pointed out, “Hopefully these charges are going to be competently prosecuted and hopefully, the appropriate decision will be made based upon the evidence presented to the court.”
AG Nandlall went on to outline that such lawless actions by citizens could not and would not be condoned by the State.
“Persons cannot be allowed to become vigilantes and take law into their own hands and begin to administer punishment because if that is replicated across this land, we will simply descend into a state of anarchy and that will be the end of civilised society. And that will be the end of law and order as we know it, and we simply cannot, as a society, countenance and condone this type of lawlessness,” he contended.
The Attorney General also used the opportunity to further call out politicians for taking advantage of such situations and in some instances, causing and supporting the escalation of these unlawful actions.
“Politicians must be condemned when they attempt to convert these matters into political issues. These are matters of law and order. They are not matters of politics. Not because a person is aggrieved by the behavioural conduct of [an] agency of state, including the Police, it means that any grouping of citizens can decide to unleash violence and mayhem on any segment of the population. That is not tolerated anywhere, and in those circumstances when those issues manifest themselves, it is the duty of the State to enforce the law and to do so, swiftly and condignly. And it is the duty of the criminal justice system to ensure that justice is administered in accordance with law and that’s all that this Government is seeking to do,” Nandlall asserted.
