– Coalition expresses alarm, says incident aimed at intimidation
The police are investigating an incident which occurred on Wednesday whereby a man with a fake gun showed up at the residence of Chief Justice (ag), Roxane George-Wiltshire, attacking cops on duty.
According to police reports, at around 14:00 hours, two ranks were on duty at the Chief Justice’s residence when one left the hut and went into the washroom. There, she was confronted by a male wearing a black short pants and a white jersey tied around his face. He was armed with what appeared to be a black handgun.
The said male approached the rank and pointed the object at her and fired a punch at her but missed. The rank then called out for the other rank who was in the garage of the building, who was armed with a .38 revolver.
“The rank, having heard the call, went out to see who it was when the said male pointed the object at him causing the rank to take cover. However, the person then dropped the object and ran in a northern direction and jumped over a fence and made good his escape,” the police stated.
No shots were fired and no one was injured. The object picked up is suspected to be a toy gun and the same has been lodged.
The incident occurred just one day before the Chief Justice is expected to preside over the Case Management hearing in relation to the Elections Petitions challenging the validity of the March 2 General and Regional Elections. The police are now conducting an investigation into the incident.
In a subsequent release, the APNU+AFC said that it is alarmed by the reports and the incident appears to be a clear attempt to intimidate the Chief Justice.
“This is an extremely troubling development and it appears as though the challenged PPP regime has upped the ante to engage in criminal conduct in their quest to thwart the Elections Petitions being heard. The PPP regime is the only party that is desperate for the hearing of the Elections Petitions to be delayed and thus has ample motive for executing such a vile and intimidatory act on the eve of the case management hearing,” the party
stated.
It called on the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and the State to provide “heightened 24-hour security” for the Chief Justice to ensure her safety and that she is able to proceed with the case management and hearing of the Elections Petitions without hindrance.
