DPP’s Warning Over Mohamed Video Raises Alarm Over Press Freedom

By Mark DaCosta- A stern public rebuke from the Director of Public Prosecutions’ Chambers has put Guyana’s newsrooms on alert. The warning is rooted in legitimate concern for fair trials. But its breadth carries a chilling effect for journalists and citizens alike, and nowhere more so than where the evidence touches a matter of intense public interest.

On Monday, 9 November, the Chambers complained of the reckless spread of a video clip on social media and of the prejudicial commentary surrounding it. It said the footage was handed to defence lawyers in court on Friday, 6 November, and that it comes from a prosecution witness’s home camera system, submitted alongside a written police statement. The statement named no one, but local media have linked the clip to the shooting outside the home of Special Branch head Prem Narine, a matter now before the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.

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The footage is politically combustible. The newly circulated clip challenges the police account, and that politicians and civil society figures have demanded an independent investigation. Narine, questioned in court about surveillance, initially invoked the Official Secrets Act. Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed, who features in the matter, is already before the courts on separate charges.