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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, November 8, 2016
Facebook suspends journalist’s account amidst ‘Pope’ sex scandal FACEBOOK has decided to disable the account of journalist Travis Chase of the HGP Nightly News (Channel 16/Cable 67), who caused a maelstrom of controversy on November 6th when he leaked photographs depicting a man said to be “Pope Emmanuel” Philbert London of Beacon Ministries in pornographic mode with several females. The blurred images on Chase’s Facebook Page depicted pornographic scenes involving the self-proclaimed pope, who starred in, and produced, sex tapes with several female members of his congregation. As such, some church members who were upset at the situation reported Chase’s Facebook Page. However Chase, through his attorney Selwyn Pieters, has written a letter to
Vice President and General Counsel of Facebook Inc, Colin Stretch, asking for the account to be restored with immediate effect.
“Pope Emmanuel” Philbert London In that letter, seen by this newspaper, the attorney argued that Mr. London is “a public figure, and there is
no expectation of privacy to which he is entitled where, as here, his conduct as a leader of a church and a person over whom trust is reposed has breached that by making sex tapes with his congregants. In other professionals -- law, medicine, teaching, professionals are subjected to discipline, including licence revocation.” According to the lawyer, “It is clear that the issue Mr. Chase raised has gathered significant public interest. The post has taken social media by storm, with well over 3000 comments and shares. Importantly, however, there was no other nudity on his page; as mentioned previously, some images were blurred.” The lawyer further argued that given the fact that Chase is an investigative journalist
who exposes issues of crime, corruption, and professional misconduct, including that of office holders, some of his posts would offend some, prompting them to report the page. “However, being offended is not enough to restrict reporting of public interest matters, and it is not enough to warrant the disabling of Mr. Chase’s Facebook account,” the lawyer said. The sexually explicit images, which were partially blurred, appeared on social media platform minutes after midnight on Saturday, and by Sunday morning, hundreds of Guyanese were in tuned with the images, which were initially taken down by Facebook after the first posting. However, persons had already shared and saved the pictures, which re-ap-
peared via dozens of “shares” throughout the day. In one of the partially blurred images, a man took a picture of his genitalia while posing in pastoral dress with a symbolic priestly emblem visible on his right bust. Another depicted the man lying in bed with two females in the nude, one of whom was lying face down
Travis Chase of HGP Nightly News
on his right shoulder while the other on his left shoulder was looking at the camera. Yet another image depicted a woman lying face down on a man’s torso, while an image of a woman on the right arm of a man are depicted in another. A man bearing the image of London is depicted in another image, lying on his back on a bed with a partial smile of satisfaction on his face while his arms are outstretched above his head. The pictures were allegedly taken by London and his female companions, while reports suggest that videos of the sexual escapades were taped, allegedly by the self-proclaimed pontiff. Reports have suggested that the images were recorded at his home with the consent of all parties.
Concerns over Cabinet meetings at GDF Dear Editor,
I AM a member of the Indian Action Committee (IAC), and I believe that the letter written by Mr. Abel Seetaram (KN November 3, 2016), who claims to be an APNU+AFC Regional Councillor, is questioning unfairly the action of the IAC in writing about the use of the headquarters of the Guyana Defence Force at Camp Ayanganna for the holding of Cabinet meetings. I am quite aware that the IAC has built up a very large following since its establishment in April 2003, mainly due to the organisation’s successful activities and programmes held in the counties of Demerara, Essequibo and Berbice. I wish to express my extreme disappointment with the contents of Mr. Seetaram’s letter, which displayed a complete lack of understanding of the Con-
stitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. During my long association with the IAC, having been fortunate to have associated with the many intellectuals of the organisation, I was introduced to the Guyana Constitution; and therefore I am taking this opportunity to educate Mr. Seetaram by pointing him to Article 146 (one), which states that: “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 hold 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.” It is my belief that the organisation’s right to speak is guaranteed by Article 146 of the Constitution. If Mr. Seetaram, who is of Indo-Guyanese origin, wishes to obtain information from the IAC, he is welcome to visit the organisation’s office in Cummings
Lodge at any time. Unlike Mr. Seetaram, I am highly concerned with the Government having Cabinet meetings at Camp Ayanganna, given the long history of the involvement of the GDF in the disenfranchisement of hundreds of thousands of Guyanese during the dictatorship period. I have noticed that the Minister of State claimed
that the building housing the Ministry of the Presidency and the headquarters of the Guyana Defence Force at Camp Ayanganna are the only secure places where Cabinet meetings can be held. Finally, I have an important question for Mr. Seetaram: Should you not be very concerned about the statement made by the
Minister of State; because if the Cabinet, which includes several former GDF officers, can feel safe only at these two locations in Guyana, where then can the rest of the Guyanese population feel safe? Regards, DEVANAND PERSAUD IAC Member