The Guyana Police Force (GPF) recently committed a series of historically abhorrent acts that are not only illegal, but criminal. Police Commissioner Clifton Hicken, with the approval of the government, sent Assistant Superintendent of Police Rodwell Sarabo to New York, outside of the jurisdiction of the Police force and courts of Guyana, to attempt to serve Rickford Burke with a Police initiated Guyana court summonses for politically motivated, fabricated charges.
Sarabo was aided and abetted in this by a private lawyer’s helper name, Mark Wasserman. An NYPD report says both men brandished guns. These acts violate US law and sovereignty. The men face federal and state investigations.
Burke, the President of the New York based Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID), is an ardent critic of the PPPC government and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo. His organization, CGID, is on a crusade to hold Jagdeo accountable for his alleged atrocities. Burke has unceasingly called for Jagdeo to face justice for alleged racial discrimination, extrajudicial killings, and corruption.
Burke’s overpowering voice, credibility, and influence hangs like a sword Damocles over the heads of Jagdeo and the PPPC government. Guyanese are not oblivious of the fact that the PPPC government is mortified of this influence. This became obvious during the Washington Conference on Guyana, which Burke organized last September, when President Irfaan Ali and several government ministers rushed off to Washington in a panic to defend the government’s record against racism charges.
Consequently, Jagdeo and the government launched a racist, smear campaign against Rickford Burke. Without one iota of evidence, they claim that he is a “criminal.” However, Burke is a teflon. Nothing Jagdeo, Attorney General Anil Nandlall and the entire Guyana government and Police Force say about him affects him or his gigantic support base. People see their bogus allegations for what it is, fraudulent. In Fact they have made him more popular and a Guyanese Marcus Garvey. He is a hero to African Guyanese in Guyana and all over the world.
What is scandalous is Jagdeo’s cynical indulgence in the most odious lies, deceit, and seeming abuse of the powers and abuse of the Police to target Rickford Burke and assassinate his character. More troublesome is the recklessness of the Police. They have abandoned the rule of law to march to Jagdeo’s unlawful orders to issue wanted bulletins for Burke and to institute politically motivated, bogus charges against him, although he does not live in Guyana.
Guyanese are not fools. Everyone knows that the GPF bulletins and charges are spurious and politically motivated. Everyone knows that they were orchestrated by Jagdeo. What is most shocking is the boldness with which Jagdeo has acted with contempt for the rule of law in Guyana, and the US.
The Police compliance with government’s unlawful manipulation of the force to pursue a vendetta against the undeterred and outspoken CGID President, and the blatant lies which emanated from the GPF must be harshly condemned. Apart from the falsities of the bulletins and charges, the GPF issued a statement on December 21, falsely claiming that Sarabo and Mark Wasserman, a private document processor in New York, read the summons to Burke. An alleged heavily doctored video released by the GPF proved this claim to be false.
In a subsequent statement dated December 23, 2023, the GPF falsely claimed that “Burke made no report to the NYPD against a GPF Officer and the Process Server who served him certain legal documents at his premises in New York, although he continues to allege publicly that he made such reports to the NYPD. This publication has seen the NYPD report.” What Police force indulges in this type of falsification about what goes on in another country?
How can the nation trust a Police Force that is so dishonest? Never in the history of the republic has the Police Force demonstrated such brazen dishonesty, illegal conduct, and contempt of the law. The bulletins didn’t stop Burke from speaking. Hence the government pushed the Police to institute fraudulent criminal charges to establish a narrative that he is a criminal. Is there no one in the PPP government with the commonsense to discern that their actions and narrative are racist?
The GPF claims that they charged Burke with extortion, seditious libel, sedition, inciting racial hostility, inciting public terror, use of a computer system to instill fear and a host of other ridiculous charges. No one in Guyana, including persons in the PPP believes these charges have any merit. The nation sees straight through their ploy. They made up these charges to try to lure Burke to travel to Guyana to persecute him for speaking out against them. Why would Rickford Burke, who lives in the US, recognize the illegitimate allegations of the corrupt GPF in another jurisdiction that is trying to repress his free speech rights?
Amidst all the illegitimate actions and constitutional infringements of Burke’s rights, the GPF has one fundamental problem. Burke does not live in Guyana. Without a shadow of doubt, Guyana police have no jurisdiction to issue any bulletin or to charge Burke. Every action by the GPF regarding Rickford Burke has been illegal.
It is now public knowledge that the GPF in its December 21, 2023 statement claimed that the Magistrate at Vigilance Magistrate’s court directed the Force to serve the summons on Burke in New Yorke. This claim is not only false it must be highly offensive to the court. No Magistrate has the power to issue a summons outside of Guyana. According to information in the public domain, the Police allegedly duped the Magistrate into signing a summons. This publication understands that the Police swore an oath before the Magistrate that Burke lives at an address in Guyana which they provided. The Police also swore before the Magistrate that Burke committed the alleged crimes in Guyana.
This is the level of deception to which the Police Force sunk to deceive the Magistrate into committing an illegal act, to give Jageo talking points at his press conference to continue his embarrassing and disgraceful spectacle of trying to convince the world that Burke, an honorable citizen, is a criminal. Jagdeo displaces an uncanny obsession with Burke. The CGID President has tremendous influence with individuals in the Biden Administration, top Members of Congress, and New York elected officials. US House Democratic Leader, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries has said that Burke is a friend who he holds Burke in high regard.
New York Attorney General Letitia James has described Burke as her brother from another mother, and she views him as an Ambassador for the Caribbean region. Does Bharrat Jagdeo and the powers that be at the GPF think that lies and fabrications and the reckless abuse of power can change this?
Everyone realizes that Jagdeo and the government are terrified of the influence Burke wheels; an influence that has eventualized accountability and exposed the government’s discriminatory policies, corruption, and human rights atrocities. Hence their strategy to attempt to discredit and criminalize him through slander. They hope that their campaign to criminalize him will cause politicians in the US to disassociate themselves from Burke.
The attack on Rickford Burke is an attack on every Guyanese who wants justice, good governance, and a free and fair society. The attack on Rickford Burke is an attack on every Afro-Guyanese demanding equality and fair distribution of Guyana’s resources and national patrimony. The attack on Rickford Burke is racist and undermines democracy and the fundamental right of free speech in Guyana and the US.
It is therefore essential that who went to Burke’s home and those that instructed them to do so be arrested and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Furthermore, this publication calls on the US government to impose sanctions on the government and police officials who authorise this violation of US sovereignty.
