NEW YORK, CMC – Two United States-based Guyana groups are accusing the Irfaan Ali administration in Georgetown of continuing a “clumsy conspiracy” to frame US-based political activist Rickford Burke, who is wanted in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country on several offenses, including “the excitement of hostility or ill-will on the grounds of race, under the Racial Hostility Act.”
The New York-based Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID), which Burke heads, and the Guyanese Diaspora Organizations of the USA (CGDO-USA) said in a joint statement that they “have witnessed Guyana’s Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, insert himself in the matter” where the government “fraudulently instituted charges” in Guyana against Burke in New York.
The groups said that the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and “the Guyana Police Force leadership are caught in a clumsy conspiracy to frame Mr. Burke because he has consistently exposed to US Government officials the abject racism, racial discrimination and corruption in the PPP regime and their efforts to subjugate the African-Guyanese population.”
The statement said that Nandlall, speaking on his social media show “Issues in the News” on Wednesday, made false allegations against Burke, challenging him to provide evidence to back up his allegations.
“This issue is about the Guyana Police Force (GPF) sitting in Guyana and flawlessly following political institutions to charge Mr. Burke in New York for speech that the US Constitution protects.
“We reject the PPP dictators in Guyana who have conferred world powers unto themselves. We condemn their abuse of the Police Force to carry out political vendetta in Guyana and abroad,” the statement said, adding, “It is stunning that the Attorney General has now again entangled himself in another conspiracy to frame Mr. Burke and in interfering in an alleged court matter that is purportedly subjudice…”
“The Attorney General knows that this matter, although bogus, is beyond his remit and is within the purview of the Guyana Police Force and the Director of Public Prosecutions. Yet, he continues to brazenly demonstrate contempt for the rule of law in his audacious attempt to silence Mr. Burke,” the statement said.
On Wednesday, Nandlall dismissed suggestions that the court warrants allegedly served on Burke are intended to silence critics of the 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 “Issues in the News” Facebook program.
“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 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 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.
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.”
Burke, a former advisor to the late Guyana President Desmond Hoyte, through his 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,” Millington said.
Nanlall also wanted to dismiss suggestions that the summons must be served appropriately on Burke in New York.
“Burke is accused and charged with two serious criminal offenses and now served summons to appear in court so he can defend himself,” he said. “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.”
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.”
and then 