On the evening of Friday, 13 November 2026, law enforcement officers in Guyana carried out a high-profile search at the Herstelling, East Bank Demerara residence of Natasha Singh, a parliamentarian representing the opposition We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party, before taking her into custody, according to a firsthand account from fellow opposition legislator Ganesh Mahipaul.
Mahipaul, who had arrived at Singh’s home that same evening to collect a book, happened to be present as police officers arrived to execute a search warrant, and was granted permission to remain on the premises for the duration of the operation. A uniformed officer publicly read the warrant aloud, stating that the search targeted computer systems, mobile phones, physical documents, SIM cards, and any other internet-accessible devices suspected to be tied to the commission of terrorism-related offences. Singh, a Muslim, later shared that officers had initially moved to forcefully break down her front door after receiving no response, unaware that she was engaged in her scheduled evening prayers at the time. “When you were trying to break my door, I was praying. It is my prayer time,” she confirmed.
Also in attendance to witness portions of the search was Amanza Walton-Desir, leader of the Forward Guyana Movement (FGM) political party. Footage streamed live during the operation captured Singh speaking with her legal counsel, prominent Guyanese attorney Roysdale Forde, who advised her to comply with the officers’ lawful order to access the property. The footage also showed law enforcement personnel moving furniture and conducting a thorough sweep of the home for potential evidentiary materials. At the conclusion of the search, officers seized a total of four laptops, seven mobile phones, multiple flash drives, and a drone owned by a member of Singh’s extended family.
During a lighthearted moment amid the tense standoff, Singh teased Mahipaul, who had expressed a desire to retrieve the Auditor General’s Report he had come for and depart the scene quickly, noting, “you know how much points the PNC will gain from you being here representing a WIN, a female Muslim.”
Hours after the detention was confirmed, WIN General Secretary Odessa Primus released an official public statement strongly condemning the move as deliberate political harassment. Primus warned that sustained arbitrary detention, targeted harassment of opposition legislators, and efforts to bar opposition representatives from participating in parliamentary proceedings posed an existential threat to Guyana’s democratic system. “A functioning democracy cannot survive when the Leader of the Opposition and opposition Members of Parliament face relentless harassment, arbitrary detention, and exclusion from legislative proceedings. When state power is used to neutralize political opponents rather than serve the public interest, governance gives way to authoritarianism, and Guyana is pushed into a dark and dangerous chapter,” the statement emphasized.
WIN parliamentarian taken away by police; computers, other items seized for terrorism probe
