Man charged for threatening GECOM chair and family

A store clerk was Monday charged and released on $500,000, bail for allegedly making a post via Facebook threatening to kill the Chair of the Guyana Elections Commission, Claudette Singh and her family.

The defendant, Ryan Williams, 41, of 27 Silver City, Wismar Linden appeared virtually before Magistrate Wanda Fortune, in the Linden Magistrate’s Court. He denied the charge which stated that between July 13, 2020, and July 14, 2020, at Wismar Linden, he used a computer system to threaten the GECOM Chair and her family. Williams is the first person to be charged under the Cyber Crime Act, Section 2, Chapter 19:1(b), “using a computer system to coerce, harass, intimidate or humiliate a person”.

The nature of the charge stated that, with intent to compel the GECOM Chair to do an act, which she is not legally bound to or to abstain from doing the act which she has a legal right to do, Williams allegedly threatened her and her family by using a computer system to publish or transmit computer data. According to the report, under a fictitious name, “Raheem Raahman”, Williams made a post stating, “If you Claudette Singh think you will declare fraudulent votes so that the PPP will win, well think again bcuz you and everybody in ur house will f@#$ing dead.”

The post was circulated on Facebook and police launched an investigation. Eventually, they were able to make an arrest and the suspect allegedly confessed to issuing the threat and claimed that he is a supporter of the A Partnership for National Unity / Alliance For Change (AFC+APNU) party and that he is unhappy with the current situation. Williams is expected to make his next court appearance on August 3, 2020. ( Kaieteur News )