Police seek international help to identify, punish bloggers

Feb 28, 2009 News

The police are pursuing international help to determine the identity of the bloggers of livingguyana.blogspot.com, following a posting on that website stating that the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) has approached the government for a bailout because of financial problems.
In a statement issued yesterday, the police stated that they have received an official complaint from the bank.
The article, according to the bank, was erroneous.
The police reported that an investigation was carried out, and it revealed a second article on the same website in relation to the Citizens Bank Guyana Inc.
“These articles have since been deemed erroneous” and are “intended to cause confusion and disruption to the lives of citizens of Guyana and other stakeholders of these banking institutions,” the police said.
International and local agencies have been contacted for assistance in this investigation, the police added.
According to the police, if it is determined that the law has been broken, anonymity does not exonerate anyone from the consequences that follows.
The website has since published a statement which stated: “We have accepted that the story is false.
It is 100 percent incorrect. We were relayed information by someone who was duped by a wicked person, whose aim was to use this blog to create mischief.
Living Guyana apologises wholeheartedly to those inconvenienced.”
Various blog sites, both pro- and anti-Government, have surfaced recently criticising persons at various levels of society.
Some of these sites have even delved into the private lives of citizens, hurting their character and reputation.
Journalists and media workers are among those that feel the brunt of much criticism from websites such as
liveinguyana.blogspot.com and livinguyana.blogspot.com.
Guyana, however, does not have the capacity to pursue cyber crimes, nor is there legislation apart from those that govern libel and slander.
And in a press release issued last evening, the Government denounced the comments carried on a blog and repeated by Evening News on Thursday evening. The blog stated that GBTI has applied to the Bank of Guyana for a $1 billion bailout. There was a similar comment about Citizens Bank.
“The Government views these unsubstantiated and baseless comments as highly irresponsible and mischievous, and wishes to state categorically that GBTI has not applied for any financial support or bailout in any form from the Bank of Guyana or any agency of government, and does not face any issue requiring Government or regulatory intervention.
The comments made on Citizens Bank are, similarly, completely baseless and untrue.”
“Government has noted that Evening News has since retracted its comments and apologised for its actions, and it is hoped that other media houses and citizens will act responsibly in these matters.
“The Government further wishes to condemn, in the harshest possible manner, what appears to be a coordinated attempt to cast aspersions on the strength of our financial system.
Such an approach is reckless and completely inconsistent with the practice of responsible journalism by knowledgeable professionals.
“As has been reiterated by the Central Bank, Guyana’s financial system continues to be stable, and the financial institutions operating in Guyana remain well-managed and financially sound.”

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Police seek international help to identify, punish bloggers

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