The Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC) says it vehemently condemns what it terms the “unfair, uneven and vindictive act of GINA (the Government Information Agency)”, in withdrawing government advertisements from Stabroek News.

“We express our full support with the Stabroek News and are convinced that this dangerous development is a direct assault on a free and independent press,” the GTUC said in a press release yesterday.

The body is also calling on the government “to immediately return an equitable portion of its advertisements to Stabroek News and to desist from any deplorable practice of using state resources in an inequitable, unfair, uneven and non-transparent manner.”

And according to the GTUC, it is their belief that “this unfairness and inequity in the distribution of the state’s resources sends a strong message of an increasing dictatorial tendency of the government and a continuation of its deplorable practice to punish its perceived enemies.”

Moreover, the trades union umbrella body contended that the action by the government “clearly violates the rights of Guyanese to freely express their views and to receive information without hindrance.”

The GTUC release also urges independent media houses not to be fooled by the ploy of divide and conquer as “today it is Stabroek News” and “tomorrow whose turn will it be?”