Attorney General Anil Nandlall has described statements made by Alliance for Change Leader Nigel Hughes as reckless, irresponsible, and inflammatory.
The statements the Attorney General was referring to were made by Hughes at the funeral service of Ronaldo Peters – 21 and Keon Fogenay last Sunday.
The killings of the two young men at the hands of the police sparked outrage and saw persons calling for police accountability.
Nandall at the time was speaking during his weekly television programme, Issues in the News.
The AFC leader in responding to the Attorney General said speaking the truth about state violence is not immaturity; it is leadership grounded in principle and duty to the people of Guyana.
Hughes in a statement released through the AFC said in 2012 the people of Linden ensured a national tragedy. Citizens were shot and killed while protesting peacefully.
He said the following year a commission of inquiry made several recommendations which included the Guyana Police Force review with operational protocols on the use of lethal force and that specialized approaches to crowd control be developed and implemented. None of the recommendations he said has been implemented.
According to Hughes, instead of strengthening trust between the state and the people, the government ignored the COI’s findings and the result, the people of Linden, once again had their citizens shot and killed by police under strikingly similar circumstances.
This he said is not just a failure of police, it is a failure of political will and moral responsibility.
Mr. Hughes said the Attorney General may wish to dismiss the concerns with insults and distractions, but the people of Guyana are wiser than that. They know what maturity looks like; it is the courage to speak truth to power, to stand with victims, and to demand change – not just in words but in action.
The families of the two young men killed were given assurances by President Irfaan Ali that a thorough and independent investigation would be conducted. The investigations were conducted by the Guyana Police Force’s Office of Professional Responsibility and the Regional Security System (RSS) which is based in Barbados.