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Govt. played no role in Melly Mel’s arrest-Nandlall
-hopes she can appear on witness stand in libel case
Kaieteur News- Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General Anil Nandlall on Tuesday evening said that the government played no role whatsoever in the arrest of Melissa ‘Melly Mel’ Atwell in the United States.
Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General Anil Nandlall
His comments come after there were protests held, encouraging Guyanese in the diaspora to lobby for her release. The government has been accused of lodging complaints about her social media criticisms of them and the alleged corruption. During his weekly programme, ‘Issues in the News’, Nandlall told his viewers that he had served Melly Mel a libel suit and though he had some difficulty doing so subsequent to that she continued her work via her social media page.
He said he heard that she was arrested and detained sometime last week and is currently being held in Federal facilities located somewhere in Louisiana. He said it was also brought to his attention that the arresting agency is the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agency, which is an organisation that primarily deals with the enforcement of immigration laws, investigating and prosecuting persons for violations of the said law.
He further explained that while Atwell’s detention is in relation to her immigration status, “Lo and behold, a grouping of persons in Guyana is protesting in Guyana, presumably based upon the utterances I am hearing, protesting the Government of Guyana and calling for the release of this person. And for the avoidance of doubt, the Government of Guyana did not arrest Melissa Atwell, the Government of Guyana is not detaining Melissa Atwell, from all the information that is available, it is the US government that has arrested and is detaining Melissa Atwell.”
Social media activist, Melissa ‘Melly Mel’ Atwell.
Nandlall also noted that the opposition has joined the protest and he said that they cannot be protesting the Government of Guyana but rather the Government of the United States. “It is no secret, that President Donald Trump has an immigration policy, it is no secret that since inauguration, he has vigorously launched a campaign to enforce the immigration laws in the United States of America, targeting specifically persons who are in the United States in violation of the immigration laws,” the AG reasoned.
He further argued that he does not know on what rationale bases the protests against the government are mounted. However, he said the protest was being marketed and projected as a freedom of expression issue and he questioned how can this be so when “This lady was allowed to express her opinion for years and no one during that period interfered with her right to express herself… no one during that period attempted to interfere with her right to express herself, and there is no evidence that anyone can point to.”
Nandlall went on to say that he sued Melly Mel for libel and at some point in time, he hopes she can appear in court, however “the case will go on with or without her. Many other persons have sued her for libel as well, but those lawsuits were never intended to interfere with her right to free speech.”
Atwell was reportedly taken into custody by Homeland Security in the United States of America on March 13 and is fully cooperating with the authorities.
At his press conference last week, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo was asked to comment on the said arrest and if the government is concerned. Downplaying Atwell’s significance, he said that they are not concerned about that. “In terms of Melissa Atwell so we’re not, we’re not concerned about that in terms of Melissa Atwell, I don’t know if any government agency has been notified. It wouldn’t come to me, if that has happened, it will go to the law enforcement agencies,” he said.
(Govt. played no role in Melly Mel’s arrest-Nandlall)
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