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Treason PI…Court rules on prosecution applications

Feb 14, 2012 News

 

After considering applications by the prosecutor, Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry yesterday permitted the return of Lieutenant Colonel Sydney James to again give evidence against Army reserve officer Leonard Wharton, Major Bruce Munroe and his wife Carol-Ann Munroe, the trio accused of treason.
State appointed prosecutor Vic Puran had previously made the application before the presiding Magistrate to have Col. James return after it was revealed that tapes being heard in the court were not the originals.
Although the original tapes were tendered in court, according to police witness Assistant Superintendent Simeon Reid who had been working closely with the prosecution, what the court had been listening to since the start, were copies of the originals.
This caused defence Attorney Nigel Hughes who is representing the treason accused, to object to the copies of the originals being played and argued that the court was not given the liberty to hear the original tapes which are being used as prime evidence against his clients.
To put all speculations aside and to satisfy the mind of the defence, Puran applied to have the original tapes played in court to prove that the copies were in fact duplicates of the originals. He also asked for James to return to the stand to once again make connections with the contents of the recordings.
The court said that the original tapes should be played because it is in the interest of justice that the tendered evidence be heard in court. Puran had indicated that the defence could have access to the tapes if they so desired and this was also permitted by the magistrate.
Another application was previously made by Puran to have the court hearing of the treason matter convene at the National Communications Network (NCN).
Puran had asked that the tapes which were being played in court be heard at NCN because the facility there had better means for listening to the tapes. He said the change of venue would allow for better reception of the evidence which could be heard much clearer and was more comprehendible through the use of the communications network equipment.
Hughes had given several reasons as to why the application of the prosecution was void. Hughes said that there was no legal basis for the application. He continued that no special reasons were provided for the change of venue and this made it not permissible in law.
Although the prosecutor made arguments for the change of venue, claiming that the prosecution was handicapped and even crippled by the fact that their evidence could not properly be put over because of the deficiencies of the court. The application was however denied. It was revealed that there was no legal basis on which the prosecution’s application could fall.
The court had made the observation that no legal references were provided for the application and although the court had gone the extra mile to seek the legal authorities, none was found since the special circumstances on which a change of venue relied did not exist in the treason matter.
Wharton, and the Munroes are accused of trying to overthrow the Jagdeo regime, the previous government of Guyana. The persons were arrested in late 2010 after the police alleged that they conspired with other persons to cause chaos in the country.

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