Days after Attorney General Basil Williams threatened to sue media houses for “falsely” reporting that he threatened to kill a judge, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP/C), one of the leading political groupings in the country, is calling on the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to launch an investigation into the allegations.
Despite the Attorney General’s pleas of innocence, the PPP insists the matter warrants an extensive probe as it believes the threats should not be viewed in isolation but in conjunction with other incidents where the Government has attempted to subvert independent offices.
Attorney General Basil Williams
“We call upon the Guyana Police Force to immediately launch an investigation into this matter and this investigation must include the death of the Magistrate to whom the statement refers,” the Party said in a statement on Monday.
Williams, on March 24, refuted reports that he had made death threats against Justice Franklin Holder the previous day during a High Court case against trade unionist Carvil Duncan.
Reports indicate that the Attorney General yelled, “the last Magistrate who did that to me was later found dead…” following a heated exchange with the High Court Judge over the recording of the day’s proceedings.
The Attorney General, during his press conference, admitted to using those words but contended that his statement was taken out of context.
Williams said he was relating a story about a magistrate who had incorrectly interpreted a statement he had made.
But the PPP believes Williams’ reported actions are part of a wider policy of the Government to denude independent constitutional agencies of their institutional and functional autonomy, to malign and assault the holders of these offices and to emasculate them, so that they act in a manner in which the government wishes them to act and not in accordance with their constitutional and lawful mandate.
“Over the last 22 months, we have witnessed incontrovertible evidence of attempts to undermine the independence of the Judiciary,” the PPP said.
The Party cited the purported sidelining of the conventional GPF by the political directorate who chose to use the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) to carry out politically driven investigations.
The PPP also listed the verbal assault by Finance Minister Winston Jordan upon the Auditor General because of the latter’s criticism of the Minister’s misuse of the Contingency and Consolidated Funds as another issue.
Additionally, the PPP reminded of the “infamous” meeting with Carvil Duncan, the Chairman of the Public Service Commission, who is also a member of the Police Service Commission and Judicial Service Commission, at the Ministry of the Presidency where Duncan was offered “a package” to resign, with the President saying that he wants “no more blood on his carpet” and when Duncan refused, a tribunal was established to hound him out of office.
The PPP highlighted, in support of its perception, “the President’s unconstitutional refusal to act upon recommendations of the Judicial Service Commission to elevate two Puisne Judges to the Court of Appeal and the appointment of two Judges to the High Court, although these recommendations were made since February 2016; the failure to swear in the two Judges who have been appointed … [to act] as Chief Justice and Chancellor of the Judiciary, respectively; the scurrilous attack on the former Chancellor of the Judiciary by the Attorney General in the State-owned newspaper; the Attorney General’s repeated public accusations that the Judiciary is ruling against the Executive and his consequent contention that by so doing, the Judiciary is encroaching upon the province of the Executive and the Legislature; the Attorney General’s repeated but irrelevant use of the name of the President during the hearing of cases, with the clear intention of intimidating the Judges; and the Attorney General’s constant criticism of Judges in and out of court and in the press when they rule against him”.
“Although this incident was witnessed by over a dozen persons, including the Judge himself and a reporter from the Chronicle Newspaper and while Williams admits to the words being said by him, he barefacedly and clumsily tries to change the context and inject more words, as he attempts to justify what is clearly unjustifiable,” the PPP noted.
Efforts to contact Justice Holder on Monday for a comment proved futile.
According to reports, the Judiciary plans to write the President on the matter.
In the meantime, the PPP is urging the Judiciary to maintain its independence and not buckle under pressure.
“We assure our Judges and Magistrates that we will continue to work fervently to ensure that they are able to perform the functions of their office with dignity and in an atmosphere free from intimidation and fear. We remind the Judiciary that they are perhaps the most significant pillar to prevent our country from sliding back to a state of authoritarianism and political dictatorship,” the Party emphasised.
