The Guyana Police Force (GPF) Wednesday said that the Deputy Chief Election Officer, Roxanne Myers, is being detained on a charge of conspiracy to defraud as it continues its investigation into the disputed March 2 regional and general election here.
Attorney Nigel Hughes told reporters Tuesday that his client had “been arrested for obstructing the course of justice because she exercised her right to silence.”
Hughes said that the Deputy Chief Elections Officer learned that she was wanted by the police for questioning, so she voluntarily visited the Criminal Investigations Department (CID).
“[Ms. Myers] was informed today that the police wanted to interview her, she attended the police station with her lawyers when we got there, we had a bit of a wait and then questioned her. She said she wanted to exercise her right to silence, and they then said they’re going to keep her in custody based on obstructing the course of justice,” he added.
Hughes said he is not now sure where his client is being held since she had been “sent to one of the lockups.”
But in a statement, the GPF said that the elected official is in custody for conspiracy to defraud and that it was about to issue a wanted bulletin for her when she turned up at the CID headquarters on Tuesday.
The GDF said that it spent more than a month making efforts to contact the Deputy Chief Election officer to face post-election incidents questions.
“Those efforts were futile, as Ms. Myers made every effort to elude the Police investigators. As a consequence, a Wanted Bulletin for Ms. Myers was prepared by the GPF. Still, before it was issued, she turned up at CID Headquarters in the company of her attorneys on October 6, 2020, where she surrendered to the police,” the GPF said in the statement.
“Ms. Myers was promptly arrested for the offense of “conspiracy to defraud,” and she was told of the allegation at the said time. She then exercised her right to remain silent. Ms. Myers remains in Police custody as the investigation continues into her actions during the post-March 2, 2020 elections incidents are ongoing.
“The GPF wishes to reiterate that the Police did not detain ms. Myers because she remained silent, contrary to statements attributed to Mr. Hughes in the press. This is a distortion of the truth, and the GPF rejects the same.”
In August, soon after the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) announced that the main opposition People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C0 had won the elections, the police launched a “comprehensive investigation” into the elections resulting in charges being laid so far against the Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield and Returning Officer of Region Four, Clairmont Mingo.
The two men have appeared in court on charges relating to fraud, misconduct in office, and breach of the public’s trust,
Mingo is also before the court with a former government minister, Volda Lawrence, the chairman of the People’s National Congress Reform –the largest party in the coalition –A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) –on another fraud charge.
Two other GECOM staff members are also before the courts as a result of the investigations.
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