“There is no plan to arrest persons” – Police respond to allegations of election mischief

[www.inewsguyana.com] – The Guyana Police Force (GPF) has responded to claims made by the APNU+AFC coalition that there are plans afoot to arrest persons en masse in the ‘A’ Division in the few days leading up to General and Regional Elections.

With just two days remaining before General and Regional Elections, the APNU+AFC Coalition on Friday May 08 said it is in receipt of credible information that there is a plan to “detain and arrest an unusually large number of persons over the weekend and on Election Day on spurious grounds in a deliberate effort to prevent these persons from voting.”

However, in a release to the media, the police force stated that “the police plan is to act professionally in providing security for the General and Regional Elections.”

“The Guyana Police Force wishes to assure members of the public, including supporters of all political parties, that if they breach the laws they are likely to be arrested; and if they conduct themselves lawfully, they will be protected. There is no plan neither for any mass arrests nor the illegal arrest of anyone,” the police release stated.

It was noted that the APNU+AFC Coalition’s media release came as a surprise, since the Guyana Police Force hierarchy met with a delegation comprising senior representatives of the Coalition on March 16, 2015, at the Office of the Commissioner of Police, where the plans for operations and security for the Coalition’s leaders were discussed.

According to the statement “at that meeting, the delegation was informed that the Police Divisional Commanders have full command of the resources in their respective Division, and that they also have instructions to operate professionally…several calls were made to the Commissioner of Police and Divisional Commanders regarding various issues, however, the contents of the media release was never raised.”

The Guyana Police Force said it has been acting professionally during the campaign period so far, and intends to continue until the end of the process.