Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Feb 26, 2016 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom
The Guyana Police Force is under a great deal of public pressure to solve the murder of Mr. Courtney Crum-Ewing. There is anticipation that with a new government in place a great many crimes, including those believed to political in nature, are going to be solved.
Courtney Crum-Ewing was gunned down in Diamond. He reportedly was at the time using a bullhorn and calling on persons not to vote for the People’s Progressive Party, the party in government at the time.
There is an assumption in the minds of many people that the killing of Crum-Ewing was a political act. Some people want to believe that so that they can blame the PPP for his murder. Others believe that because of the fact that his death occurred during the course of his one-man political activities against the PPP, including not long after a one-man picketing exercise outside of the office of the then Attorney General of Guyana.
His death converted Courtney Crum-Ewing into a political activist. It is not known which political party he belonged to or was supporting. But the AFC claimed he was in their colours. Coincidentally, the Brazilian football team wears the same colours.
It does not necessarily follow, of course, that Crum-Ewing’s death was a political assassination. He was one-man show. He was a loose cannon. He had no known constituency. He was no Walter Rodney. He was hardly a political threat to anyone and therefore his death need not at all have been a political killing. But in a country in which people tend to put their own meaning to things, the political angle could not at all have been foreclosed on investigators.
The obvious thing for the police to do was to first look for a political angle to the killing.
The police did eventually find a gun which they claimed was linked to his killing. They charged a known character with his murder and for the illegal possession of the gun which they said was linked to the killing. The gun charge was discharged.
This has put a different complexion on the murder charge, because if the possession charge was dismissed, then how will the murder charge stand up.
The police have reportedly begun to question persons connected to the PPP about the murder of Crum-Ewing. Well how come they charged someone else with the crime? How come they are now questioning other people?
The police must be careful that they are not pressured into charging innocent persons. They are under a lot of pressure to solve this murder, but in the end they must find the right persons. They must not try to make political scapegoats.
The police must also examine some of their premises. The police have competent investigators. They know how to approach murder investigations. You do not rule out any motive. You do not rule out any angle.
The police should not be only considering the political angle to this case. They should also consider other angles. They should ask themselves whether the killing could be non-political.
Where is the BETTER MANAGEMENT/RENEGOTIATION OF THE OIL CONTRACTS you promised Jagdeo?
Apr 19, 2024
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