Nandlall repeats threats to Kaieteur

.,.. if you cross the road carelessly you are likely to be struck down by an errant driver

Attorney General Anil Nandlall

Attorney General, Anil Nandlall has chosen to send yet another shivering message to the newspaper. He is now essentially saying that if the newspaper continues along the line it is going, it is likely to suffer the same fate of those who were killed in Paris.

Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, in a profanity-laced recording made public last November, was heard telling a senior reporter that “innocent people” working at Kaieteur News may be killed as a result of the types of stories the newspaper has been carrying.

A group of reporters cornered Nandlall on Friday as he exited the Chief Justice’s Chambers and asked him about the comments he made back then.

Nandlall was told that his colleague in Parliament, Moses Nagamootoo, had on the same day said that the Paris incident coupled with Nandlall’s threats should serve as a warning to all Guyanese that there can be terroristic attacks to media houses in Guyana resulting in the deaths of journalists.

The Minister interjected, “And?”

He was then asked to confirm if what he was heard saying on the recording should indeed be taken as a warning.

At this, Nandlall laughed. After containing himself he said “ It should serve as a warning, (Laughed again) Well if you cross the road carelessly you are likely to be struck down by an errant driver.”

The Minister immediately then turned from the cameras and walked away.

Earlier that day, Nagamootoo had told the media that Guyanese should do as the Eddie Hooper song says and “take warning.”

He added, “Nandlall had given this country a warning that it is possible that you can have terrorist attack on newspapers and that journalists can be killed.

The Member of Parliament said that many unfortunately did not take Nandlall’s warning seriously and “let him off the hook.”

The Alliance For Change (AFC) Executive Member said that what played out in Paris seems to be from a script written by Nandlall. “Whether you say that those were Islamic extremists, Islamic fundamentalists or Islamic terrorists, it is not very important. The main issue is a question of intolerance against freedom of the press, freedom of expression and of the independence of journalists.

“For me the worst you could ever do to a human being is to shoot that human being for his views because you are intolerant.”

Nagamootoo said that Nandlall is one of those who cannot tolerate Kaieteur News’s views and “was telling them, warning one of its reporters, ‘Look that’s a dangerous place. Somebody would come in and shoot all y’all up and Peter gon pay fuh Paul and wha come sah do.”

The politician said, “We now have a situation in Guyana where we must now reverse the tape, look back at what Nandlall said and society must come out with revulsion and tell Nandlall that he cannot just escape with such types of threats because people’s lives are at stake.”

Executive member of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine said that while Guyana should not have waited for the Paris incident to take the threats made by Nandlall seriously, that unfortunate incident should be taken as a wakeup call for all.

He said, “I don’t believe we have to wait until an international tragedy like what happened in Paris to understand how serious we need to take threats against press freedom. I recall the brutal killing of the pressmen of KN back in 2008, that was a ghastly act and threats against the newspaper now should have been taken seriously because of what took place in the past.

“That incident should be a wakeup call for all of us because safety of our journalists is something we should take seriously and government should hasten moves to put in place security for KN staffers.”

Nandlall was heard saying, “Everybody doesn’t have a newspaper to use as a weapon, I told Adam, I said Adam people got weapons right, is not newspaper they gonna use as a weapon they got weapons and when you continue attack people like that and they have no way of responding they gun just walk with their weapon into that same f**king Saffon Street office and wha come suh do and innocent, Peter gun gah pay fuh f**king Paul in deh one day.

“Me ah tell you innocent, me a tell you honestly man to man that will happen soon… So the quicker you get out of deh, the quicker you get out of deh the better.”