Bishop Juan Edghill has written the Advisory Committee on Broadcasting, Evan Persaud, complaining of a broadcast made by CNS Channel Six in which former television owner turned politician, Anthony Vieira, reportedly made comments that the Bishop has deemed highly offensive and worthy of suspension or revocation of licence. In the letter dated May 10, 2011, Edghill states, “I write to bring to the attention of the ACB misleading and inflammatory statements and unsubstantiated allegations made by Mr. Anthony Vieira on a programme entitled Commentary, aired on CNS Channel 6 on Wednesday, May 4, 2011 at 12:30 hrs.”
Edghill quoted the Guyana Post and Telegraph Act, Chapter 47:01, Regulation 23A which states: (a) “The Licensee shall ensure that nothing is included in programmes which offends against good taste or decency, or is likely to encourage or incite racial hatred or incite to crime or to lead to public disorder or to be offensive to public feeling;
(b) “The licensee, acting responsibly and in good faith, shall ensure that any news given (in whatever form) in the programmes of the licensee is presented with due accuracy and impartiality;
(d) “The licensee shall ensure that due responsibility is exercised with respect to the content of any religious programmes of the licensee and that, in particular, any such programme does not involve any abusive or derogatory treatment of the religious views and beliefs of persons belonging to a particular religion or religious denomination; and (e) “The programmes broadcast by the licensee shall be of the highest possible standard.”
“It is my considered view that the licensee acted in contravention of the said Act, in particular the sections stated above when it allowed the said programme to be aired on its station,” Edghill said in his letter.
According to Edghill, there can be no excuse on the part of the licensee that they were unaware of the content, ‘because it was a live programme’.
“Mr. Vieira, in the said commentary, indicated that he had written the commentary two months before it was aired but had problems with its recording. The fact that it was recorded then aired indicates that it was presumptuous, calculated and done with the intent to cause harm, even though the licensee is aware of possible sanctions,” the letter by Edghill said.
“In the commentary itself, Mr. Vieira accuses me of badgering broadcasters since they operate with a public licence issued by the government.  Mr. Vieira, himself a previous owner of a television station, is aware of these regulations.
Mr. Chairman and Committee, while I don’t propose to present in this letter a full analysis of the content of this inflammatory broadcast, I will like to point out some of the statements that fell way below what could be considered acceptable standards.
– Edghill has been corrupted by Jagdeo.
– Edghill is financed by Jagdeo.
– Edghill is a henchman for Jagdeo.
– Edghill has been incarcerated for murder and has changed his birth name.
– Edghill has joined with Jagdeo in a plot to marginalize Afro-Guyanese and now Christians.
– Edghill has accepted as a bribe – the Inter Religious (IR) Channel.
“All of the above statements are inaccurate, untrue and were designed to damage my reputation,” Bishop Edghill said.
“In the commentary aired on CNS Channel 6, the content can create confusion among various religious groups and denominations. There is a clear attempt to put a division or a wedge between Catholics and Pentecostals; and while I make this complaint in my personal capacity, there was even a scathing attack on the Roman Catholic Bishop of Guyana and other Catholic leaders,” said Edghill.
He noted in the letter that there is also an attempt to put divisions among the various denominations of the Christian faith by putting various leaders under the microscope “and a threat to mete out to them similar treatment of public disgrace as meted out to me by way of this commentary.”
Edghill accuses Vieira of stating that Swami Aksharananda was the person who advised President Jagdeo to take Trinity Broadcasting off the air because Hindus were converting to Christianity.
“This is designed to create offensive feelings to a large section of the public that are Christians and can lead to public disorder and religious conflicts,” he said.
“While this does not represent the sum total of the quantum leap into darkness that CNS Channel 6 has made by airing this programme, it provides sufficient basis for the severest form of sanctions to be taken which, according to your regulations, are suspension or revocation of the licence. I pray that you will carry out your statutory responsibility with due care and a sense of responsibility,” the Bishop said.