No legal authority conferred on Magistrate’s Court to order service of a Defendant’s Summons outside of Guyana

As democracy in Guyana continues to stumble, recent actions by the Guyana Police Force (GPF) have sent shockwaves through the very fabric of our nation’s democratic principles. The deeply troubling incident in question involves the serving of a summons overseas to an outspoken government critic, Rickford Burke marking another disconcerting chapter in what appears to be a series of actions constituting transnational repression.

In a published statement, which appeared in our dailies the Guyana Police Force stated inter alia:

“As such, the Magistrate ordered that the ‘defendant summons’ be prepared and served on Rickford Burke to attend the Vigilance Magistrate’s court on the 28th day of March 2024.

“As such, pursuant to the order of the Court, two (2) defendant summons were subsequently prepared and on the 13th day of December, 2023, an Officer of the Guyana Police Force, ASP Rodwell Sarabo left Guyana and travelled to the United States of America with both defendant summons in his possession.

“On the 16th December 2023, ASP Rodwell Sarabo met with Mark Wesserman, a Process Server based in the United States of America and they served both defendant summons on Rickford Burke at his home address at Maple Street, Brooklyn, New York. Both defendant summons were read to Rickford Burke and he said he understood.”

The jurisdictional extent of the Courts of Guyana and the Guyana Police Force’s authority to act in any manner is defined by the geographical limit of Guyana unless specifically and expressly conferred by law.

There is absolutely no legal authority conferred on the Magistrate’s Court to order service of a Defendant’s Summons outside of Guyana and the Guyana Police Force to serve a Defendant’s Summons outside of Guyana.

Therefore, the conduct of the Guyana Police Force is utterly unconstitutional, void and of no legal validity.

The threat to the Guyanese Diaspora and/ or persons living outside of Guyana as stated in the Guyana Police Force’s statement that: “Finally, the Guyana Police Force wishes to make it known that a similar course of action will be adopted against persons who are outside of the jurisdiction and engage in criminal conduct” is of no substance.

There is no remaining doubt that the Guyana Police Force is nothing more than an instrument of repression and an agent of the PPP/C government.

In a democracy, the right to criticise the government is not only a cherished privilege but also a foundational and fundamental pillar of a healthy and robust political discourse. Citizens have the right to express dissenting opinions without any fear of persecution, especially when those opinions are voiced abroad. Therefore, this recent attempt by the Guyana Police Force to serve a summons overseas is not just a studied attack on an individual; it is a vicious assault on sacred democratic values.

I call on all Guyanese, particularly those living in the Diaspora to take to Social Media to express and magnify their condemnation of the actions of the repressive, discriminatory and authoritarian PPPC government.

Our collective voice must reverberate against any attempt to suppress dissent and curtail the rights and freedoms of individuals, whether within or beyond our borders.