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A Partnership for National Unity yesterday condemned what it said was the “heavy-handed” tactics used in the arrest of WIN leader Azruddin Mohamed following a US extradition request In a statement, the coalition said: “The recent arrest of Mr. Azruddin Mohamed is yet another dark reflection of the PPP/C’s continuing pattern of authoritarian governance and its blatant disregard for due process. “The issue is not what was done, but how it was done. Mr. Mohamed was fully aware of what was pending and had already communicated his willingness to cooperate with the authorities. In fact, he had written to the Minister expressing his readiness to surrender himself once the proper extradition request was filed and the legal process was in place. “Yet, instead of allowing due process to take its course, the PPP/C Government chose to stage a public display of power. Surrounded by armed ranks and cameras, the arrest of a citizen who had offered full cooperation was a calculated act of intimidation, designed to send a political message rather than uphold the rule of law. “This heavy-handed display is symptomatic of a regime desperate to prove its might, not its morality. The PPP/C has once again used state machinery as a political weapon, reducing law enforcement to instruments of fear rather than justice. When the rule of law becomes selective, when cooperation is met with coercion, and when the presumption of innocence is replaced with public humiliation, we cease to be a democracy; we become a dictatorship cloaked in procedure. “We, the PNCR/APNU, condemn in the strongest possible terms, the manner in which Mr. Mohamed was treated. Justice must never bow to politics, and due process must never be sacrificed for propaganda. The world is watching and today’s events have shown that under the PPP/C, the institutions of our nation are being used not to protect citizens, but to persecute them. “It is time for Guyana to reclaim the rule of law, not as a slogan, but as a standard”.
