Activists behind the 19 Protests movement brought their campaign to Fyzabad on Labour Day, using the historic observance to renew calls for transparency and accountability in the wake of the fatal police-involved shooting of Joshua Samaroo and the critical injuries suffered by his girlfriend, Kaia Sealey.
Addressing supporters, movement leader Alyssa Phillip said the demonstration marked the group’s “nineteenth and final protest campaign” and urged citizens to continue demanding answers from public institutions.
“This gathering marks the nineteenth and final protest campaign in a movement that began with one simple demand: that truth must matter,” Phillip said.
Drawing comparisons with the labour movement’s struggle for workers’ rights, Phillip argued that ordinary people have a responsibility to question authority and seek accountability.
“A healthy democracy does not fear scrutiny. A healthy democracy welcomes scrutiny,” she said.
Phillip also called on trade unions, civil society organisations and citizens to unite behind the principle that “no one should be above accountability”, maintaining that justice and transparency strengthen public institutions rather than undermine them.
The movement emerged following the police operation in which Samaroo was killed and Sealey was critically wounded. Sealey has since been charged with multiple offences arising from the incident and has been granted bail.
