EARLIER this month, Kaieteur News, in a page one comment, appealed for solidarity from the Guyanese public, in the face of what it has termed, “a ploy” by powers in high places to destroy its operations.

And General-Secretary of A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), Mr. Joseph Harmon, was quoted in the paper as saying: “We want to put the Government and Sattaur on notice that we will not sit idly by and watch them violate the rights of citizens,” adding that the newspaper has the coalition’s “unwavering” support in the fight for democracy against the powers that be.
However, this newspaper was informed by a member of the main Opposition that Harmon’s comments put him in “hot water” with the APNU’s ‘higher ups’.
“Mr. Harmon was asked to write a letter to state that his comments were not the view of the party, but his own personal views,” the inside source said, adding that the problem was with Harmon’s commitment of the Partnership’s “unwavering” support.
The grounds on which Kaieteur News is calling for support continues to be questioned and as it relates to Harmon’s comments, APNU in the last few years has come out with strong positions on tax evasion, privacy violations and extra-judicial killings – all of which are the subjects of allegations against Lall and his newspaper.

TAX FRAUD
In early September, Lall was alleged to have evaded taxes for over a decade now. Reports are that, Mr. Lall, the owner of the Guyana National Media Publishing Company, is being investigated by the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) for the importation of printing ink packaged as a CARICOM (Caribbean Community) product, which enjoys duty free concessions under the Revised Treaty of Chaguramas. Under closer inspection, however, it was allegedly found that the origin of the inks were from overseas, thereby in breach of the treaty. As it relates to the progress of the investigation of the alleged tax evasion, the Guyana Chronicle was informed that the necessary verification requests are still with the relevant authorities in Trinidad and Tobago.
Prior to the tax evasion allegation, Mr. Lall was fingered in an alleged remigrant duty-free concession scam.
Six criminal charges, altogether, have since been filed against Glenn Lall, publisher of the local Kaieteur News, his wife, Bhena Lall, and Narootandeo and Gharbassi Brijnanan. The charges follow the seizure of two vehicles allegedly at the centre of a duty-free scam. The two vehicles in question, PRR 8398 and PRR 8399, were handed over to GRA and impounded at the Authority’s warehouse, at the end of August, after an hour’s-long standoff between GRA officials and the Brijnanans’ son, Sankar, a high-ranking GRA employee. An investigation was then launched to ensure that procedures and policy, as well as the provisions of the law were adhered to. The criminal charges, this newspaper understands, stem from that investigation. Lall and his wife were arraigned on Monday and are expected to return on November 24.
Also, in mid-September, both Lall and his wife were sued by the Town Clerk of the Mayor and City Council, Carol Sooba for the sum of $ 5,660,142 and $60,142 for unpaid rates and taxes for the years 2004 to 2013 in relation to their property at 24 Saffon Street. The case is currently being heard at the Georgetown Magistrates Court.

PRIVACY VIOLATIONS
Lall and his newspaper are also at the centre of concerns across the Guyanese society over the privacy of electronic communications.
The Kaieteur News maintains its criticisms of GRA for the release of “confidential” information, which have been emphatically rejected by GRA’s Commissioner-General, Mr. Khurshid Sattaur.
However, the newspaper itself sparked the concerns of privacy violation, following its publication of alleged emails between senior public and government officials, as well as those of former President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo, which do not relate to the criminal charges that have been filed.

THREATS TO PUBLIC OFFICIALS
Lall has also found himself embroiled in another problem, regarding an alleged threat to the GRA Commissioner-General.
The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) has completed its investigations into the alleged threat made by publisher of Kaieteur News to Sattaur and the Crime Chief, Mr. Leslie James has disclosed that the matter is now with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
The investigations followed a complaint made by the GRA Commissioner-General. He lodged a formal complaint at the Brickdam Police Station, regarding an alleged threat from publisher of Kaieteur News, Mr. Glenn Lall.
Standard Operating Procedures in similar matters require the lodging of one’s firearm, if the person making the alleged threat is a licensed firearm holder. However, it is unclear whether or not Lall has lodged his licensed firearm.
Additionally, the threat has sparked concerns relative to Lall’s involvement in an extra-judicial killing in 1994.
Lall is the self-confessed “vigilante” who shot and killed France at McDoom and later described the incident as an “unfortunate” accident.
According to the Stabroek News, which reported extensively on the killing, Lall, a well-known stallholder at the Stabroek Market and then rural constable with the police force shot France in the chest at close range with a .38 revolver.
Reports are that France’s step-son, Oliver Marshall, was wanted by the police in connection with a robbery at Lall’s home. On the day of the killing, Lall, using his post as a Rural Constable, went to France’s McDoom residence to arrest Marshall, where he was met with strong resistance by the boy’s relatives.
The Stabroek News article stated that police information indicated that there was a scuffle between Lall and Marshall, at which time the shot was fired and France was hit. “We have information to suggest that the two were engaged in a scuffle before the shot was fired. It was not a cold-blooded killing as France’s relatives would want us to believe,” the police source said, in the February 2, 1994 report.
In the case of France’s killing, there was no inquest into the circumstances of his killing – an action that has left eyebrows raised and many interested parties dissatisfied.
The conclusions reached by the police were deemed “not good enough” by France’s relatives.
This sense of discontent has resurfaced and many persons, including eyewitnesses of the shooting, are now asking questions, following Lall’s recent alleged threats to a senior public official, as well as talk of Government ministers being blackmailed by him.
Several politicos, who spoke to the Guyana Chronicle, concur that there seems to be an attempt to divert attention from the allegations of wrongdoing levelled against the paper and its publisher.