Prisoners threaten Magistrate, court halted

Nov 24, 2009 News

Pandemonium broke out in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court one, when suspects including those charged with the Bartica Massacre violently protested the conditions under which they are being held.

Police ranks wait patiently for the prisoners to exit the prison van outside the Georgetown Prison.

The prisoners hurled their food and liquid unto the floor of the courtroom and created such a stir that the Magistrate Priya Beharry was forced to leave the bench under tight security.

There are reports that one of the prisoners threatened the magistrate.

The 16 prisoners were protesting the fact that they were not granted their day in court after more than two months on remand.

It all started when the prisoners were taken yesterday morning from the Georgetown Prisons to keep a court date at the Bartica Magistrate’s Court.

They were placed in one of the enclosed prison vans and were assured that they were being taken to court.

However, they subsequently learnt that the Bartica Magistrate would not be available and that arrangements were being made to have them appear before a Georgetown Magistrate for them to be further remanded.

The men were then made to sit in the enclosed prison van while the police transported them around the city in the sun for almost four hours. This angered them so much that they began protesting the conditions.

The authorities then were forced to seek the services of a City Magistrate to sign a warrant for the prisoners to be further remanded to prison.

When the men were eventually taken out from the prison’s van they vented their anger in the courtroom before Magistrate Beharry.

One of the suspects even shouted that he was supposed to have a decision in his matter yesterday. The men proceeded to kick open the exit door of the ‘shoot’ when they left the courtroom.

An eyewitness who was in the courtroom said that the few policemen who were present during the ruckus were at a loss.

They were subsequently advised to lock all the courtroom doors and protect the Magistrate, who left the court without signing the men’s warrants.

Eventually back-up arrived and the prisoners were quickly escorted out of the court precincts and taken to the Brickdam Police Station compound under tight security.

A relative of Royden Williams, one of the suspects in the Bartica massacre, told Kaieteur News that when the prisoners arrived at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court an officer there indicated that he did not want them there, since the lock-ups were already full.

She said that the men were taken back and forth several times to the court.

“Eventually, they say some could go up in court and some can’t go and de boys dem start to behave bad. Dem boys say they want go to court. They seh they left to go Bartica and de police must carry them to Bartica,” the relative related.

Deputy Commander Derrick Josiah told Kaieteur News that the police have launched an investigation to determine what really transpired.

“If there was any breach of security, we would deal with it,” Josiah said.

Eventually, another Magistrate signed the warrants for the prisoners to be returned to the Georgetown Prison.

But even then they refused to leave the prison van and it was only after some persuasion by relatives and prison officials that they complied.

It is not clear when the men will have another hearing in court, but given the nature of the court operations at Bartica, it may be some time next year.

Police in a press release said that the prisoners will be charged accordingly and placed before the Court shortly.