On Wednesday, GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – Attorney General Anil Nandlall, SC, dismissed suggestions that the court warrants served on the US-based Guyanese political activist Rickford Burke to silence critics of the Irfaan Ali administration.
“Nobody is charging Burke for being a critic. We have many critics against the government. Burke is being charged for committing a criminal offense, extortion,” Nandlall said on his weekly Facebook commentary on topical issues.
“You can’t commit an offense against the laws of Guyana and think the law would be so impotent that we can’t try you.
“That you can just stay out the country… the arms of the law are very long, the process may be slow, but it is a sure one,” Nandlall said.
The Guyana Police Force (GPF) said Burke is wanted in Guyana on several offenses, including “the excitement of hostility or ill-will on the grounds of race, under the Racial Hostility Act, sedition under the Cyber Crime Act, use of a computer system to coerce and intimidate a person, under the Cyber Crime Act, as well as seditious libel contrary to common law.”
Additionally, the police said that Burke is wanted on “seditious libel under the peace under the Summary Jurisdiction Offences Act and inciting public terror under the Criminal Law Offences Act.”
But Burke has consistently denied the allegations, and on Tuesday, a New York Police Department (NYPD) report confirmed that contrary to a GPF statement, Burke was not served last month with a Guyana police-issued court summons on charges related to extortion, sedition, and inciting public terror.
A copy of the NYPD report, made available to the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC), states that at about 10:00 am (local time) on December 16, 2023, an unknown “Black male, approx. 6ft 2 in, approx. 200 lbs. (and) unk (unknown) white male wearing eyeglasses and curly hair attempted to hand him (Burke) documents and paperwork.
“He refused to take them and continued to walk away. CV (complainant Burke) also states unk white male who (with) what appeared to be the handle of a black rusted firearm,” the report added.
However, in a statement on December 23, 2023, captioned “Rickford Burke lied,” the GPF said it “continues to communicate with the high command of the New York Police Department about Wanted Man, Rickford Burke.
“Recent communication with the NYPD confirms that Burke made no report to the NYPD against a GPF Officer and the process server, who served him certain legal documents at his premises in New York, although he continues to allege publicly that he made such reports to the NYPD,” the statement said.
“The GPF wishes to remind the public that filing a false report to law enforcement officials, whether local or overseas, constitutes a serious criminal offense, and any such report filed by Burke will result in criminal charges and prosecution,” the statement added.
But Burke, a former advisor to the late Guyana President Desmond Hoyte and president of the Brooklyn-based Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID), had through a spokesman, attorney Richard Millington, told CMC on Tuesday that the NYPD report “proves to the Caribbean region what CGID has been saying for years.
“Dishonest people lead the Guyana Police Force, and nothing they say must be believed. They are devious,” said Millington, who also serves as CGID’s communications director.
Nanlall said he wanted to dismiss suggestions that the summons must be served appropriately on Burke in New York.
“Burke is accused and charged with two severe criminal offenses and now served summons to appear in court so he can defend himself.
“If the trial went on without him being served and denied an opportunity to defend himself and have a fair trial, those would constitute a miscarriage of justice and can lend to the allegation of authoritarianism,” Nandlall told his audience.
He said that the state of Guyana “ is bending backward to ensure that the defendant is made aware of the charges and the proceedings and notified of his court date so that he can make himself present either personally or through a representative to ensure his interest is protected.”
Nandlall said that none of the arguments point to any express provision in the law that prohibits the service of the summons outside of Guyana.
“Has an offense been committed within the jurisdiction of Guyana? If yes, then the Guyana Court has jurisdiction to try the offense.
“If the court has jurisdiction to try the offense, then wherever the defendant is, the court has the power to bring the defendant before it,” Nandlall said, adding that the offenses for which Burke was served with two summons are indictable offenses and a reliance on the Summary Jurisdiction Magistrate Act to demonstrate that it was wrongly done is not accurate.
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