PPP threatens private legal action if Comrade is charged for assault

Following an altercation with a woman on Friday evening, an employee of Freedom House, Headquarters of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Jason Abdulla, was invited by members of the Guyana Police Force to attend the Brickdam Police Station to respond to allegations of assault.

According to the PPP, Abdulla was invited to the Station in connection with a report made by Shondell Hope, a known APNU+AFC supporter, that Abdulla assaulted her on High Street in front of the Red House on the December 30, 2016, during a peaceful Candlelight Vigil held by the PPP.

On Tuesday (January 3, 2017), Abdulla attended the Brickdam Police Station in the company of his lawyer and he submitted a written statement.

On Friday, December 30, 2016, the accused was participating in a Candlelight Vigil hosted by his party to bring awareness to Government’s move to reclaim the Red House. The Vigil was hosted in front of the said building on High Street. During the exercise, a group of persons led by the Former Minister of Social Protection, now Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence began a` counter Vigil which eventually led to a verbal altercation.

Subsequently, according to reports and videos posted on social media, Abdulla and Hope ended up in a physical altercation where she and other female supporters are seen throwing things at him and hitting him.

The PPP said “if Cde Abdulla is charged, then fairness and justice will demand that Minister Volda Lawrence and Shondell Hope and others must be charged, as well. If they are not charged by the Police then private criminal charges will be filed against them by our lawyers” the political party threatened.