Newspaper columnist, Freddie Kissoon yesterday maintained his position that former president Bharrat Jagdeo “in his personal capacity and as head of the executive” practised and pursued policies and actions that were ideologically racist and he provided statistics to back his case.
In his continued attempt to justify why he referred to Jagdeo as an ideological racist in an article which the former president used as the basis for a libel suit, Kissoon said that he found during his research that Afro-Guyanese were often bypassed for promotion and or replaced by persons of East Indian descent when it came to top public sector positions.
Taking the stand for the second time since the start of the year, Kissoon testified to the contents of his research essay entitled ‘Ethnic Power and Ideological Racism: Comparing Presidencies in Guyana’, to justify why he called the former president an ideological racist. The case is being heard by Justice Brassington Reynolds.
Led by his attorney Nigel Hughes, Kissoon said that in his research essay he made reference to the public service appellate tribunal during Jagdeo’s tenure. He said that the tribunal was in dormancy. Kissoon conducted his research between 2000 and June 2010.
At this point Jagdeo’s lead attorney Senior Counsel Bernard De Santos objected saying that the evidence being given was irrelevant to the case. “The non-functioning of that tribunal is not a relevant consideration for any issue in this case.
Hughes in response to the objection submitted that his client’s case is that Jagdeo is an ideological racist and at that moment he was trying to demonstrate that through Jagdeo’s actions. He said that his client has already proffered an analysis of the contemporary Guyanese society from independence onwards in which he identified the principal areas of political, social and academic activities.
The attorney continued that the tribunal is part of a process which offers the
