[ad_1]
The latest revelations of gold smuggling and the U.S. government’s actions against three Guyanese citizens highlight many facts, including that “justice is blind” and, as Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali said last Thursday, “no one is above the law.”
Unsurprisingly, those opposed to the Government and the ruling party believe they can use these revelations to distract from the continued progress this Government has brought to Guyana since August 2020.
With the ruling People’s Progressive Party (PPP) having held its most successful congress in history and the next presidential and parliamentary elections already set, naysayers and eternal pessimists hoped (and some still hope) to strike political gold on the campaign trail.
However, both the President and the Attorney General have stated that the current Administration will not rest on its laurels or take a hands-off approach but will continue to be proactive in the fight against corruption, including money laundering.
Attorney General Anil Nandlall said the courts were hearing nearly 200 money laundering cases and outlined several legal and judicial measures being taken to strengthen the government’s ability to combat organized crime and corruption, including cooperation with Guyana’s gold trading nations.
Gold smuggling is as old as the gold industry itself, and Guyanese will not deny that trying to intercept the illegal trade between small miners and large exporters is almost like looking for a needle in a haystack. But if the needle is there, it can always be found, and the speed depends on the search method.
While the police can conduct investigations and can arrest and charge accused persons and/or entity representatives, the courts provide the legal and judicial platform for prosecution and defence, which can be a lengthy or short process depending on the evidence and the law.
Cases may take months or years, but no matter how the defendant and plaintiff feel about the magistrate or judge’s decision, justice will always be served under the law in the end.
Crime and corruption exist in every society and no society has ever succeeded in eliminating them because greed is a fundamental characteristic of human nature that is always present in those who are never satisfied, always ready and willing to carry out their next scheme, fearless and who do not care about getting caught or suffering in the process.
The amount of money denied to Guyana’s coffers by illegal gold exporters is incalculable and largely unrecoverable, but recent revelations and evidence in the hands of local investigators and anti-corruption agencies have opened another door for continued investigations at home and abroad – not only into gold smuggling, but also into money laundering and other new and more sophisticated forms of so-called “white collar” crime.
Crime and corruption know no borders or boundaries, but how seriously governments take these issues determines whether they can successfully combat and reduce incidents of crime and ultimately eliminate avenues for crime for criminals big and small and their accomplices, whether they are police officers or public officials.
It is natural to politicize crime ahead of an election campaign, and the political opposition – weaker today than ever before – will surely try to take chances in the hope of gaining success between now and Election Day.
As President Ali assured, local authorities acted quickly to identify some weaknesses and unlike other governments, this PPP-Civic government is working hard to resolve tough issues.
Therefore, the silver lining behind the dark cloud of this case is that a wealth of facts have been revealed which will undoubtedly provide more assistance to the government and law enforcement agencies in their continued crackdown on organized crime and corruption.
[ad_2]
Source link
