GENERAL Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo has condemned attacks on local journalists.

Davina Bagot, a journalist at Kaieteur News, was attacked by an unknown person or group via a post on a Facebook page, Live in Guyana, while Tamica Garnett, a journalist at the Guyana Chronicle, was verbally attacked by the Chief Scrutineer of the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), Carol Joseph.

Jagdeo, addressing the issue of attacks on journalists, said that vile statements were made about Bagot which he strongly condemns.

He said that he does not recall a single Minister of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) or any Cabinet member or Member of Parliament (MP), in recent history, attacking a journalist.

“I can’t point to a single example… that was a disparaging set of comments that were made, and should have never been made and I condemn it,” the PPP/C General Secretary related.

Additionally, he said that Aubrey Norton, Leader of the Opposition, instead of condemning such actions, went on to point out that Garnett recording Joseph might be unlawful.

“He (Norton) said, oh it might be illegal what she was doing… she was recording Carol Joseph. That is his takeaway from it, and even when she gave an apology, she basically doubled down on the fact,” he said.

Jagdeo said that several persons connected to APNU, are constantly criticising journalists, such as Rickford Burke, David Hinds, Tacuma Ogunseye, and Sherod Duncan.

He said: “Almost on a daily basis, he (Duncan) criticises not only journalists, but women. I saw some female group being criticized; he talks about their hair, Gail Teixeira’s hair, her dress, about Priya, all of that in very personal ways, disparaging them openly on social media.”

Jagdeo lamented that this has been ongoing for some time, but there is no reports of condemnation.

“You cannot find a single PPP member of parliament or minister doing anything of that sort; we have made it clear that even though we believe that some of the questions are part of a political campaign, particularly from Kaieteur News, we will continue to deal with them,” Jagdeo related.