A thorn in the side for years of the governing People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Guyanese authorities have announced plans and efforts to have a top Brooklyn-based political activist extradited to Guyana to face alleged extortion charges.
Critics say that if American authorities agree to a request to send Rickford Burke back to his native Guyana in the coming months, this would fulfill the PPP’s long-held ambition to silence one of its most vocal and effective political opponents of recent years.
The weekend announcement by the police force came hours after Chief Justice Roxanne George had dismissed an extortion charge against Burke that his legal team had described as trumped up, vindictive, and spiteful, aimed at bringing him back to Guyana to jail and silence him.
Burke is head of the New York-based Caribbean-Guyana Institute of Democracy (CGID). He was charged with conspiracy to extradite money from local businessmen by not publishing damaging information in his domain against them, allegations he denied.
In a bizarre set of circumstances, Guyanese police even dared send a team of police officers to Burke’s Brooklyn home to serve a summons on him, a ruse that Justice George frowned upon in her ruling, calling it unlawful and of no effect outside of the Guyana jurisdiction. Burke said that the men were armed and had the audacity to attempt to enter his property.
“I have concluded that the proposed service has not been established and, in any event, was unlawful. Indeed, the magistrate admitted the applicant’s contention that the summons is only effective within the jurisdiction of Guyana. The court frowns on the course of action taken by the prosecution and the police force to, in effect, send an officer on a frolic on what must have been a taxpayer’s expense,” she stated.
For its part, the local police say they possess “cogent, compelling, and irrefutable evidence” that Burke is guilty of attempting to extort money from local businessmen and want him back home to face charges.
“The matter is under review, and the police are awaiting further legal advice in relation to the institution of fresh charges,” the force statement noted. “Since Mr. Burke remains outside of the jurisdiction of Guyana, extradition proceedings will be pursued under the Fugitive Offenders Act in keeping with the ruling of the chief justice.”
Burke has not returned home for nearly 30 years.
Guyanese authorities have also made no secret of their ambition to bring criminal charges against Melissa Ann Atwell, another opposition social media influencer and political personality, for her role in exposing corruption and personal family secrets of the political elite in Guyana. She ‘trades’ as Melly Mel on social media and is also a close confidant of Burke.
