Brumell, Khan interviewed by police over altercation

The Police have interviewed both the Editor-in-Chief (EiC) of NCN and the Head of the Director Public Information (DPI) following an altercation between the two on Monday which was captured on video

Meanwhile, staff members of NCN have come out in support of their Editor in Chief (EiC) Leeron Brumell following the altercation between him and Director of Public Information (DPI) Imran Khan.

On Monday, Brumell was sent on administrative leave to facilitate an investigation into the altercation.  Video which appears to show him physically attacking Khan was posted on social media site Facebook.

In the video a visibly upset Khan is seen exiting the NCN offices and attempting to “slam the door” in the path of Brumell who follows him into the corridor and pushes him against the wall twice. A heated verbal exchange ensues with Brumell waving his finger in Khan’s face and reaching out to strike him at least once.  The men then move out of camera range as bewildered staffers follow.

However staffers contend that the video has been severely altered.

“The video shared was butchered and altered to show one man as a victim and the other as the aggressor,” journalist Rawle Toney said in a Facebook post on the matter.

Toney a long-term NCN staff member and executive of the Guyana Press Association (GPA) declared Brumell was “verbally abused in-front of his staff by an outsider [Khan] after he made the ethical decision to stop someone “who’s a candidate at the up-coming Elections, from reading the news.”

“He didn’t say that she shouldn’t be working at the company anymore, he simply said she cannot be involved in the news, even if it’s as simple as reading it. He even said it’s her constitutional right to be a candidate, however, as a JOURNALIST, there are written and unwritten principles that governs the profession and that’s what he’s standing by,” the post said.

Other staffers have detailed to this newspaper various instance where Khan, who holds no post at NCN since his 2016 resignation from the board, has verbally attacked Brumell and other staff and made attempts to direct the editorial content of NCN.

They also related having to appeal to the Human Resource Department to have a board member removed from the room while GPF conducted interviews yesterday.

Commander of Region 4(A) Assistant Commissioner Edgar Thomas has confirmed that so far both parties, Khan and Brumell have been interviewed as were several witnesses.

He however cautioned against expecting a speedy resolution of the matter.

“The investigation will continue for a time determined by the availability of witnesses following which the Force will have to seek advice from the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP),” he explained.

The issue at the centre of the dispute also remains unresolved as the identified candidate who appears on the APNU+AFC National Top up list remains a newscaster at the state-owned entity.