The suspension of this NCN journalist is wrong

Sep 04, 2016 Letters

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Dear Editor,
It is with shock that I learned on September 2, 2016, that the Sports Editor for National Communications Network (NCN) – Ms. Jocelle Archibald-Hawke has been suspended for one month without pay for expressing her opinion on her private social media page. As I always do with matters of this sort I sought the details and I was made to understand that management of the network thought Mrs. Archibald-Hawke was not “sincere” in her apology and thus the heavy-handed suspension and fine.
Editor, in Article 146(1) of the Constitution it states “Except with his or her own consent, no person shall be hindered in the enjoyment of his or her freedom of expression, that is to say, freedom to opinions without interference, freedom to receive ideas and information without interference, freedom to communicate ideas and information without interference and freedom from interference with his or her correspondence.” Under this Article suspending the aforementioned journalist because you perceived her apology as insincere is illegal; for the management has interfered with her right of expression as guaranteed by this article.
The management has imposed standards that are not part of any contract agreement or collective bargaining agreement. I am very sure that nowhere in the contract with NCN is there is social media appropriate behavior clause and even if so a person’s opinion cannot be regulated in format for it is constitutionally protected.
Editor, Ms. Archibald-Hawke’s comments was not injurious to anyone or a threat to national defense. She did proffer an apology for a perceived wrong and a subjective litmus test of sincerity was applied which violates her rights as outlined in the article quoted. Not only have they violated her right of expression they may have violated her right to earn a living by suspending her without pay.
Editor, we are reminded daily by this government and its organs how much the status quo remains firmly entrenched. All those enthusiastic voters who went to the polls in May 2015 did so because they had enough of the abuses of the PPP/C. However, today we are witnessing the same heavy handed tactics being employed. I recall the time when the journalist Gordon Moseley was denied access to the Presidential Complex because the egotist Jagdeo thought Mr. Moseley offended him. Today, we see Ms. Archibald-Hawke suspended because the moral police at NCN think they are familiar with the contents of her heart and can adjudicate her sincerity.
When a journalist can be suspended without pay in violation of the constitution this goes to what I have said many times, “Guyana is not a democracy but a competitive autocracy.” What is mean by that is that Guyana has all the de jure features of a democracy such as elections cycles, enshrined constitutional rights such as freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. However, the de facto practice is that these rights are not fully guaranteed.
An attestation of the police state mentality is on display whenever there is a protest, the police can be observed taking down names of protestors, photographing them, and recording the slogans on their placards. Also, during those protest under cover (plain clothes) police are placed within the ranks of the protestors. Today, we now we have a journalist suspended for what is at best a perceived insult to another journalist. Ms. Archibald-Hawke is surrounded by little dictators who are inebriated with the limited power they possess. For only such persons would think that sincerity comes in the form of the written word and not uttered.
It is time for the journalism fraternity to rally behind Ms. Archibald-Hawke and demand her reinstatement and her also that her monthly remunerations be returned to her. This is a young woman is with responsibilities and this is beyond the pale to have such a heavy hand fall on her. This sort of behavior is emblematic of nations like North Korea and Vietnam where journalists have to toe the state line. Where the only thoughts expressed are in favor of those in powers and free will is just as real as the mythical unicorn.
Editor, our dear nation’s bureaucracies have fallen time after time into the hands of men and women who think it is their serf and the rest of us are enslaved to their whims and fancy. It is okay to disagree with Ms. Archibald-Hawke if she makes statements you do not support but to suspend her from her job and dock a month’s salary based on a bias sincerity test is the act of a demagogue who thinks they are both judge and jury of the contents one’s heart.
Tyrone L. Talbot

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