“THAT’S NOT TERRORISM”: Ret’d Lt. Colonel says ECD unrest was a case of public disorder

The blocking of a major thoroughfare, burning of debris, attacking citizens and looting during a protest along the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) last year is not tantamount to terrorism, but in fact, a case of public disorder.

At least, this is according to a retired Lieutenant Colonel, Lelon Saul, whose comments come on the heels of the recent institution of “acts of terrorism” charges against several persons fingered in that demonstration back in June 2022 between Golden Grove and Mon Repos.

“The East Coast residents who were charged with terrorism – that is not terrorism. One can only conclude that the police acted on the instruction of political boss or bosses. I am convinced that is what happened,” Saul said during his recent appearance on a live Facebook show hosted by Political Activist, Rickford Burke.

“I think that in the case of the East Coast, that was public disorder. That was not terrorism,” he said, concurring with Burke that terrorism is the use of violence to spread an ideology.

However, the Guyana Police Force (GPF) has contended that the charges do indeed fit the crime. When it issued wanted bulletins last month, the law enforcement agency was keen to note “Terror and mayhem were unleashed on persons on the East Coast of Demerara in June last year, during which several vehicles were burnt, and a number of stalls were ransacked and looted at the Mon Repos Market, ECD. Roads were blocked by burning debris, and scores of persons were beaten and robbed during the acts of terror.”

The GPF took eight months to issue those bulletins. In fact, they were issued one week after the country’s Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall said he opted to remind the force’s top brass of the severity of those crimes and the losses suffered by vendors at the Mon Repos Market.

The protest was sparked by an inaccurate article published by an online agency, “Guyana Daily News” that reported the release of a cop who stood accused of fatally shooting a civilian. The Guyana Press Association (GPA) President, Nazima Raghubir later said that the entity is not a bona fide member of the GPA.