Opposition accuses Police of harassing Carol Joseph

Dec 09, 2022 Court Stories, Features / Columnists, News

…as Party Chief Scrutineer again summoned by SOCU

Kaieteur News – On Wednesday, APNU+AFC Coalition Chief Election Scrutineer, Carol Smith-Joseph, received a summons from the Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU).

Carol Smith-Joseph

Smith-Joseph received the summon from SOCU, an arm of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) some five days after she filed a lawsuit at the Demerara High Court against the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), the Chief Elections Officers and the Attorney General, seeking several declarations and orders intended to nullify the preliminary list of electors and give rise to a new Register of Voters, before Local Government Elections (LGE) are held.

According to the APNU+AFC, on Wednesday their Chief Election Scrutineer was instructed to report to SOCU Headquarters in Georgetown, on Friday morning, December 9, 2022.

In a Press Statement the Coalition condemned SOCU’s summons and highlighted that no reason was provided for Smith-Joseph being summoned. “The summoning of Ms. Smith-Joseph by the Police is a violation of her basic human rights as a law-abiding citizen. It is an abuse of Police powers…,” the Coalition said in its statement.

When Kaieteur News contacted the Head of SOCU, Faizal Karimbaksh, he declined to comment. Notably, Smith-Joseph is currently before a City Magistrate facing multiple charges related to the 2020 elections.