Waldron denies ordering confrontation in Karimbaksh case

(Kaieteur News) – Home Affairs Minister Oneidge Waldron has sought to clarify remarks she made about a “confrontation” between a female police officer and Deputy Commissioner of Police Fizal Karimbaksh, who is facing allegations of rape, harassment and threats.

Waldron, during an online podcast, had said that a criminal investigation into the allegations was underway and that a confrontation between the two parties was expected to form part of the investigative process. “The confrontation has to be held with the team that is assigned and then after that confrontation then the matter will be adjudicated whether it is disciplinary action or criminal action. That will be for the criminal investigating department to determine and this team who is doing the investigation,” Waldron said.

She had also indicated that because Karimbaksh is a Deputy Commissioner, a specific procedure had to be followed. Her comments, however, came under scrutiny from human rights and transparency organisations, including Red Thread and Transparency Institute Guyana (TIGI), which questioned the legal basis for such a confrontation. The groups pointed to Section 42 of Guyana’s Sexual Offences Act, which provides protections for complainants and restricts circumstances in which a complainant may be required to recount an allegation in the presence of an accused person or to be in the accused’s presence.