GEORGETOWN, Guyana– The opposition Working People’s Alliance (WPA) Wednesday called on the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to provide more details regarding the commanding officer’s role in the Golden shooting Grove, East Coast Demerara resident Quindon Bacchus.
“WPA wants the investigators to reveal who gave the orders for the operation in question and why that functionary was not charged. While we welcome charges against the shooter or shooters and the accomplices, we feel it is equally important that those who sanctioned the operation be held accountable. It is hardly likely that the alleged shooter or shooters could have acted without the consent of others in the chain of command,” the WPA said.
The party said that the hierarchy of the police must not be allowed to use these charges as a mask to protect others who may have been part of the crime.
“Nothing short of the whole truth should suffice,” it said, even as it welcomed the “belated movement” by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Ali-Hack, to recommend that undercover police Lance Corporal Kristoff De Nobrega be charged with Bacchus’ murder.
“The murder charge instituted against one of the policemen at the scene of the crime represents an important initial step in the direction of justice for the family of Mr. Bacchus. We feel that the pressure of public protest was instrumental in this latest development. Hence our party salutes the family of the deceased and the Golden Grove community in general for standing firm despite myriad efforts to get them to cease their protest,” that party said.
On Monday, Ali-Hack announced that the undercover police officer would be charged with murder, and two others would face charges of attempting to obstruct the course of justice in connection with the death of Bacchus last month.
Bacchus was shot several times and killed on June 10 this year. There are two accounts- one that Bacchus attempted to sell an undercover policeman a handgun and the other that the two had had a previous misunderstanding. Bacchus was buried on June 26.
In a statement, the DPP said that having received the report of the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) on Sunday night, in which the chairman, retired Justice William Ramlal, recommended that one policeman, Lance Corporal Kristoff Denobrega, be charged with the offense of murder, contrary to common law, “the DPP has since advised the police to proceed with the institution of this charge.”
The DPP said that Lance Corporal Thurston Simon would be charged with the offense of attempting to obstruct the course of justice and the violation of conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline.
She said that Sergeant Dameion Mclennon is to be charged with an attempt to obstruct the course of justice.
In its statement, the WPA claimed that there were more than three police officers at the scene of the crime at Haslington, East Coast Demerara, and questioned why they were not charged.
“First, from all indications, there were more than three ranks at the crime scene. We, therefore, ask what role they played and why charges have not been instituted against them?”.
The party said that people had been charged in the past, although they could not have been prosecuted successfully, while “others closer to the crime were protected.”
The WPA urged Guyanese and the justice system to keep a close eye on the Bacchus murder case, even as it urged the family and the community not to allow the institution of charges against the accused to distract them from the larger quest for justice.
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