By: Marvin Cato | HGP Nightly News |
GEORGETOWN, GUYANA — Protesters gathered outside the High Commission of Canada and nearby diplomatic missions in Georgetown on Tuesday, intensifying calls for immediate international oversight and independent forensic investigations into the October 12 armed confrontation involving Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed and Head of the Special Branch, Senior Superintendent Prem Narine.
Carrying placards and chanting slogans along diplomatic corridors, demonstrators appealed directly to Canadian and United States consular authorities to revoke the travel credentials and foreign visas of the senior police official, while demanding that the Guyana Police Force make public the unedited municipal and residential CCTV surveillance footage of the Barr Street, Kitty encounter.
The demonstrations come on the heels of Mohamed’s release on bail, during which the Opposition Leader publicly accused Narine of staging an unprovoked assassination attempt, discharging rounds into his vehicle at close range, and physically assaulting him after an interception on Vlissengen Road.
Appeals to Foreign Envoys: Calls for Visa Revocations and Accountability
Chanting through megaphones outside the diplomatic compounds, protesters demanded that international partners hold state security ranks accountable to international human rights standards:
- Demands on Western Allies: Demonstrators called on both Canadian and American diplomatic missions to review the status of visas granted to high-ranking police figures involved in disputed firearm incidents.
- Claims of Tampered Evidence: Protesters raised concerns outside the missions that street-level surveillance video of the Kitty shooting had either been withheld or intentionally scrubbed by state investigators, demanding an independent digital audit.
- Democratic Freedoms: Speakers on the protest line asserted their constitutional right to peaceful assembly, stating that citizens across Guyana must mobilize to ensure justice and protect political opposition figures from extrajudicial violence.
“Cancel Prem Narine’s visa immediately… We are calling on the Canadian authorities and the US authorities to ensure they cancel Prem Narine’s visa,” demonstrators shouted during the picketing exercise.
“Commissioner of Police must release the footage, the CCTV footage, so the Guyanese people can see the footage of what attacked him. We were made to understand the footage was deleted… Release the footage, let the public see!”
Allegations of a ‘Failed Assassination Attempt’
Echoing statements delivered by Azruddin Mohamed following his court appearance before Principal Magistrate Faith McGusty on Friday, demonstrators reiterated the opposition’s stance that the incident was not a routine traffic confrontation, but an orchestrated strike:
- Targeted Confrontation: Speakers maintained that the barrage of bullets fired into the vehicle occupied by Mohamed, his driver Eugene Thorne, and videographer Mario Mohamed constituted a premeditated ambush.
- Call for Impartial Justice: Protesters insisted that local police structures cannot objectively investigate their own Special Branch commander, urging foreign oversight bodies to monitor the criminal proceedings.
“This is clearly an attempt on my life. It’s a failed assassination attempt by Prem Narine. We are also calling on the government and international community to step in and release the CCTV footage,” a speaker reiterated from the frontlines.
“We are here today to ensure that we fight for justice. Let your voices be heard all across Guyana. We are here standing for justice and our voices should be heard. It’s a democratic state and that is our democratic right to voice our opinions and to pursue justice.”
Chants of ‘Don’t Frame Our Leader’
The crowd maintained a persistent chorus targeting both the disputed firearm charges laid against the Opposition Leader and the handling of the senior police officer:
- Challenging the Weapon Charge: Demonstrators chanted “Don’t frame our leader” and “Investigate the gun,” referencing defense arguments that an initial roadside stop yielded no illegal items before an unlicensed pistol was purportedly discovered during a disputed second search.
- Demands for Legal Action: Protesters called for the immediate arrest and investigation of the Special Branch commander, repeating chants demanding that the state bring formal charges for the bullets discharged at the vehicle.
While the Guyana Police Force maintains that Narine acted in self-defense after hearing a gunshot emanate from Mohamed’s passing vehicle, the growing public protests outside foreign embassies indicate that the fallout from the Barr Street confrontation is expanding beyond the Magistrates’ Court into the diplomatic and international arena.
