Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jan 18, 2016 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom
I hope that what I am thinking is not true. I hope that the brother and sister whose car Sergeant Pyle and his accomplice were chasing do not end up being scapegoats for his death, that of his wife and the driver of the canter also involved in the accident.
We must not put anything past the authorities in Guyana. The surveillance that is believed to be taking place in Guyana shows that Guyana has reached the stage where some people feel they have a right to go after persons without any respect for those persons’ rights and freedoms.
They feel that they have the power to do what they want and everyone must submit to their actions. That is not how a democratic country works and therefore Guyana will be on the road towards once again becoming an authoritarian state if such conduct is condoned.
It would be more than a miscarriage of justice if that driver of the car being pursued is cha. It would be a perversion of justice for the young people who were trying to escape an unlawful arrest (or a possible kidnapping) to be blamed for that accident. It would be a travesty of justice if this happens.
All accidents have to be investigated but a traffic accident only investigates the traffic side of the matter that is the cause of the accidents. But not all accident investigations have to go to the Director of Public Prosecutions. In fact, accident files rarely go to the Office of the DPP since traffic cases involving careless or dangerous driving are prosecuted mainly by police prosecutors. What will go to the DPP is if there is a recommendation for causing death by dangerous driving
It is perplexing that the file on this matter is being sent to the Director of Public Prosecution.
This can only mean that charges have been recommended against someone and since charges cannot be recommended against a dead person, then it cannot be Sergeant Pyle who is to be charged.
In a case like this, the investigation into the traffic aspects cannot be divorced from a wider investigation into the chase.
Anyone who feels that they are being pursued in possible kidnapping drama cannot be blamed for taking steps to protect themselves from the possible kidnapping or unlawful detention.
In other words, the young driver of the car being pursued by Sergeant Pyle had every right to seek his own safety and it will be travesty of justice if he is now to be charged.
A traffic investigation cannot suffice in this matter. The traffic investigation deals with the cause of the accident. From all accounts, it was Sergeant Pyle whose reckless decision to initiate an illegal arrest led to a chain of events that culminated in the accident.
The traffic matter therefore should not lead to any prosecution but the police have been known to do the most unusual things in this country.
The public should wait and see what happens in this case. It will be a litmus test of what can be expected in the days ahead.
It is also all the more reason why there should be a commission of inquiry into this matter.
The actions of Sergeant Pyle and company need to be brought under scrutiny because if the military is being used to spy on citizens, if the military is being used to try to effect arrests then it needs to be determined under whose authority these operations are being undertaken and since when are military personnel being given powers of arrest.
Unless we get to the bottom of these issues, it is hard to determine just why Sergeant Pyle was outside of that house on Cowan Street, staking out the members of a family who were not in Guyana at the time.
In the meantime, all Guyanese should be careful!
Please share this to every Guyanese including your house cats.
Apr 19, 2024
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