George Bacchus’ sister, Elaine Bacchus Williams says
the Guyana Government and the police must accept responsibility
for her brother’s killing.
In a telephone interview from the United States
yesterday, Bacchus Williams told Stabroek News that
the government and the police had failed to protect her
brother after he had come forward with incriminating
information in relation to the activities of the death
squad.
The sister said that her family had no intentions of
returning to Guyana to bury Bacchus as they had gone through
hell this year and had had no protection from the
authorities.
Bacchus’ murder on Thursday meant that two of the
brothers of the family had been killed in around six months.
Shafeek Bacchus’ slaying in January triggered the
allegations by George Bacchus about the existence of a death
squad.
“My idea of a funeral for George would be to take his
body and leave it in front of the (President’s) home and
Home Affairs Minister (Ronald) Gajraj’s home”, as they
failed to protect him, Bacchus-Williams said.
She said Bacchus had only recently become a father and
leaves a monthsold baby to mourn. In addition to the
baby’s mother, he leaves to mourn several sisters and his
mother.
She added that her family abroad was ending its links
with Guyana because of the tragedies that had befallen them.
BacchusWilliams was also critical of the local US
Embassy, which she said gave her brother false hopes that it
would help to get him safe passage out of the country.
Bacchus had initially gone to the embassy in the company
of a lawyer to tell officials there about the activities of
a death squad. The sister said that Bacchus had told her
that initially the US embassy led him to believe that they
would assist him with safe passage out of the country since
he had a valid US visa at the time.
She said after other visits, Bacchus was told that there
was nothing the US Embassy could do and a Federal Bureau of
Investigations official kept pressing for more information
from him.
Bacchus Williams said that the US Embassy seemed keen on
extracting more information from Bacchus on the activities
of drug lords here but her brother had no such information.
The US embassy has refused to speak about its dealings
with Bacchus. The sister said she felt let down by the
embassy and the US government and is in the process of
putting together a wrongful death lawsuit against the US
government.