Former lecturer/registrar of the University of Guyana (UG) and parlimentarian,Vincent Alexander, has questioned Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo’s commentary on the alleged service of what was said to be a summons on the president of the Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID) and a proverbial thorn in the flesh of the ruling PPP government Rickford Burke at his home in Brooklyn New York.
In a letter to the Editor, Alexander pointed to a Demerara Waves report which quoted Vice President Jagdeo commenting on the matter: “Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo said the fugitive was properly served at his Brooklyn residence” in reference to Rickford Burke, has led me to ponder, why would the Vice President, to wit in his capacity as General Secretary of the PPP, report on a matter which is essentially a police law enforcement matter?
while according to the Demerara Waves` report, the “Police Force and the Guyana government on Thursday remained mum on a series of questions related to the service of summonses to New York-based Guyanese anti-government activist. Rickford Burke.”
On the 3rd December 2021, the Guyana Police Force issued a Wanted bulletin for Mr Burke in relation to the offences of 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; seditious libel contrary to common law; seditious libel under the peace under the Summary Jurisdiction Offences Act, and inciting public terror under the Criminal Law Offences Act.The Vice-President`s use of language also attracts attention. How can someone who was never in captivity and was reportedly properly served a summons be referred to as a fugitive, in such circumstances?
The Demerara Waves report went on to say that “even as the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana government on Thursday remained mum on a series of questions related to the service of summonses to New York-based Guyanese anti-government activist Rickford Burke, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo said the fugitive was properly served at his Brooklyn residence.
“By the way, from what I gather, they have video evidence of him being read the summons and running away after being approached by the people. He ran and jumped in his vehicle, I’m told, when he was approached by the people,” Mr Jagdeo told a news conference.
The Demerara Waves report that “Mr Jagdeo’s position was that Mr Burke was properly served, despite claims by the Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID) that the accused man was “never served with a document and did not sign for or accept a document.” For its part, the police force did not say whether Mr Burke needed to sign for the summonses and instead pointed out that on December 16, 2023 the defendant summonses were served on Mr Burke at his home address at Maple Street, Brooklyn, New York. “Both defendant summons were read to Rickford Burke and he said he understood,” police said.
According to a media release from the CGID, On December 16, 2023, Officer Rodwell Sarabo of the Guyana Police Force (GPF), and an individual identified as Mark Owen Wasserman, while brandishing firearms, trespassed on his Brooklyn residence and accosted him on his steps of his Brooklyn home.
The armed men were agents of the government of Guyana, who announced that they were imposing criminal charges against him in Guyana for speech against the PPP government that Mr. Burke had made in the United States.
Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo said the fugitive was properly served at his Brooklyn residence” in reference to Rickford Burke.The Guyana Police Department later issued a statement indicating that Officer Sarabo, was one off the gunmen who acting as an agent for the Guyana government, who advised Mr. Burke’s of criminal charges levelled against him by the Guyana government, arising from his talk show.
They also declared that similar charges would be filed against any Guyanese expatriate that spoke disparagingly against the PPP government, Burke said.
The CGID said the the documents that were left on Mr. Burke’s steps, were retrieved and taken as evidence by the New York Police Department (NYPD). Vice President Jagdeo seemed confident that the weight of evidence would be against Burke in a Guyanese court of law.
“At the appropriate time, I think it will be revealed to the court, and maybe even before, if the police chooses to that, that he was properly served so that the trial could go ahead,” he said.
Police said Mr Burke was summoned to appear in court on March 28, 2024. Burke stated that his lawyer, Nigel Hughes, would comment on his behalf..
According to Jagdeo, if Burke does not come to Guyana to face the court, the trial would continue in his absence. “These are serious matters…as well as many other issues for which he is charged,” he added.
In its statement, the CGID said the FBI was presently investigating whether the government of Guyana had engaged in a transnational effort to repress speech using criminal charges. The NYPD also has engaged the U.S. Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF).
The Guyana Police Force is engaged in egregious lies, serious illegal conduct and fraudulent activities. Mr. Burke was never served with a document, and did not sign for or accept a document.
The gunmen left pieces of paper of Mr. Burke’s steps, which were retrieved and taken as evidence by the NYPD.
The Guyana Police Force did not reply to several questions about the procedure for the service of the summonses on Mr Burke and whether Assistant Superintendent Rodwell Sarabo had received approval from the United States (US) to perform law enforcement functions in that jurisdiction.
The Police also did not respond to CGID’s claims that Mr Sarabo and Process Server Mark Wesserman allegedly brandished weapons, obstructed Mr Burke’s departure, ruffled through correspondence in Burke’s mailbox, he was never served with a document and did not sign for or accept a document and the men left pieces of paper on his steps.
On the 3rd December 2021, the Guyana Police Force issued a Wanted bulletin for Mr Burke in relation to the offences of 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; seditious libel contrary to common law; seditious libel under the peace under the Summary Jurisdiction Offences Act, and inciting public terror under the Criminal Law Offences Act.(WiredJA)
