– Harmon says police being used as political puppets
Chairperson of the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) and former Minister of Health, Volda Lawrence was released on $100,000 station bail on Tuesday after being questioned by the police at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in relation to the ongoing investigations into electoral fraud.
Lawrence left the CID in the company of her Attorney, Nigel Hughes who similarly accompanied her there on Tuesday morning after which she was detained. Hughes told the media that the police did so though the former Minister poses no threat to the ongoing investigation.
This is the second time that Lawrence has had to pay $100,000 bail to be released, the first relating to private criminal charges filed against her by the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr. for alleged conspiracy to forge documents in her party’s favor.
Lawrence, who was present at the Ashmin’s Building/Region Four Command Center subsequent to the breakdown in tabulation of Region Four Statement of Polls (SOPs) for the March Elections, was detained again on Tuesday in relation to the same matter.
Unlike Deputy Chief Elections Officer, Roxanne Myers, she was not held for several days and was released on bail. “I know, personally, that I have committed no crime. I have done absolutely nothing of what
I’m accused of. I just believe that this is a continuation of the circus that we will see under this regime and we have to brace ourselves,” Lawrence said back in August 2020 when she was first arrested.”
In a press briefing on Tuesday, Opposition Leader, Joseph Harmon said that the police are allowing themselves to be used by political heads though they know that there is no evidence against the PNCR Chair.
“This was unnecessary harassment. It was basically a psychological attack on the minds of our people. We’ve made it clear that our leadership will stand firmly behind Ms. Volda Lawrence,” he said.
“These charges, as far as we are concerned, are spurious, and trumped up. We believe that the sudden actions by the police, they are aimed at trying to reduce the impact of our petitions that are before the Court because these petitions, as we all know, are petitions which will show the fraudulent behavior of the PPP and the basis on which they are in Government.”
The Opposition Leader said that several letters have been sent to the international community regarding the arrests and ill-treatment of certain staff of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) and more are being prepared in light of recent actions.
