Latest update November 17th, 2024 1:00 AM
Feb 11, 2022 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon
By now, most people around the world know the name Ghislaine Maxwell. She has been found guilty of sex-trafficking. I think most people will not shed a tear if Maxwell is jailed. But civilisation rests on rules that are water-proof and keep civilisation alive and preserve the modern world today.
Every citizen in this world needs other humans to observe and practice those rules. The legal and moral obligation to do so is what keeps the world alive. All humans are entitled to a fair hearing and a fair trial. You cannot and must not dismiss a worker because an accusation was made against him/her. Give the person a hearing.
Ms. Maxwell was not given a fair trial. You may hate her but if you deny her a fair trial that caricature will cause a breakdown in civilisation and untold numbers could be victims of cowboy justice.
Ms. Maxwell was on trial for sexual abuse of under-age girls. One of the jurors did not answer one of the questions in the pre-trial questionnaire correctly as to whether he was a victim of underage sexual abuse. During jury deliberation, he explained to his fellow jurors that he was molested when he was very young. Surely that was a volatile disclosure that could and must have swayed the jury.
The lesson to be learnt from the Maxwell trial has implications for those who support the unknown person nicknamed, “Mudwata.” They must understand that we do not make moral and legal laws to please ourselves. Others will go in similar directions and the resulting impact can and will devastate civilised behaviour.
I read where PNC member of Parliament, Ms. Geeta Chandan-Edmond has come out in support of the anonymity of “Mudwata.” Ms. Chandan-Edmond and her husband, Joel, have been friends with me for a very long time.
I taught both of them the preliminary course in philosophy at UG and for a long time we have had a very solid friendship. I don’t know if she still regards me as a friend. Her husband does and we are in touch. Her defence of “Mudwata” is philosophically flawed and I hope she remembers the great philosophers she was introduced to.
I honestly did not know there was a show named “Mudwata.” I do not use social media. I do not use Zoom. I do not have a Meta page. I do not have a smart phone. If Mudwata is an opposition aficionado or government supporter then the people that support him/her and know the person’s identity should ask him/her a question that goes at the heart of human decency.
That question is why would you want to publicise the names of a woman you say swim naked in the Atlantic; accuse a bank manager of being ugly; identify a married man as being a homosexual; accuse a police officer of being a molester and all these things are down through an act of cowardice – hiding under your mother’s dress?
The laws of civilisation and society should not give you that right to take away the privacy of the married man. You have no right to wear a mask, hide under your mother’s dress or use a pen name to identify an air traffic controller as being drunk while directing the movement of planes.
If you are allowed to do that and get away with it then society has to collapse. Why are you ashamed to confront the people you accuse by boldly facing them? We may not like what Sherod Duncan, David Hinds and Guyanese Critic say but they do not hide in saying what they want to. Duncan has been charged. Simona Broomes picketed the home of Guyanese Critic.
I think it is almost impossible to understand how the Guyanese nationality thinks. Why would anyone support a character like “Mudwata?” Why would this man or woman say nasty things about people whose names he publishes on social media and hide? Can a normal, sane human see that as right?
Long ago on this page, I had a running battle with this newspaper’s anonymous columnist, “Peeping Tom.” During the period of the back and forth, I was playing dominoes outside Kaieteur News. A friend of Kaieteur News drove up. As the chat developed, he asked me why I am not writing about Roger Khan when Peeping Tom is doing it. I asked him if he would like me to. He said yes. I asked him if I should use my name. Honestly, he couldn’t speak. He got the point and got it graphically.
I could understand an anonymous columnist exposing and expanding particular issues such as banking, etc. But do not get personal with people and hide under your mother’s dress. How can any human defend such immoral behaviour?
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)
Nov 17, 2024
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