The failure of the Guyana Police Force to lay charges against cadet officer Franz Paul who is accused of shooting a fifteen year old lad in his mouth some 13 days ago should be of concern to all. This protracted delay is being interpreted by many as an attempt to cover-up the incident and it also provides fodder for the critics of the ruling PPP administration. Paul should have already been made to appear before the court as the case seems to be one of the less complicated ones.

We have had many other instances where persons outside of law enforcement have been charged in far less time and it begs the particular question as to why this hasn’t been the case with respect to this latest incident.

We are of the view that some of these incidents are being handled in a particular manner to bring the government and ruling party into disrepute and our belief remains unchanged in light this most recent one. We also remain firm in our view that there has to be some form of mechanism to ensure accountability by the hierarchy of the force.