GDF member to testify in AWOL court martial hearing

Apr 09, 2013 News

A Guyana Defence Force (GDF) member will take the stand today to testify as to whether he received what is called a SOS (Struck off Strength) from his colleague who is now on trial at Camp Ayanganna for being absent from work without leave (AWOL).
Corporal Alistair Adonis of 164 Campbellville Housing Scheme, surrendered himself to the GDF about two weeks ago after learning that he was wanted for reportedly leaving the army without permission. The soldier was one of the several persons that members of the army were seeking when they reportedly stormed the University of Guyana Campus (UG) earlier

Corporal Alistair Adonis

this year.
According to the facts of the court martial, Adonis had breached army rules by being absent without permission. The Warrant Officer of the G2 Unit where Adonis was attached, said that on the morning of October 16, last year, when he fell in the unit to mark the register he found Adonis absent.
After 21 days, Sergeant Christopher Alleyne said the necessary procedures were performed to show the soldier missing.
However Adonis’s lawyer Melvin Duke is seeking to prove that his client was in fact sick and that the information had been submitted to the GDF but for some unknown reason the army is allegedly claiming that the information was not provided.
Several unfavourable reasons had been cited by Adonis and his family claiming that ill treatment by some senior officers had been meted out to the defendant while on duty. For this reason, they charged that Adonis is being victimized.
On Tuesday, the witness will however testify as to whether he received the SOS from Adonis to deliver to the army, since senior officials are claiming that the documents were not submitted. Additionally, a National Insurance Scheme (NIS) medical certificate was said to have been submitted on Adonis’s behalf but was allegedly refused by officials.
The unit secretary who testified in the matter told the court that he had not received any documents, and even if it was delivered, he admitted that he would not have accepted it since the procedure was incorrect; that is, Adonis sending his SOS via mediator.
Adonis’s defence is that he had been suffering with a named illness and the relevant documentation was not accepted by the army.
The prosecution which is headed by Major (Hon) Melissa Yearwood-Stewart is claiming that Adonis’s leave was unjust. The matter which will continue today is being heard by Major Dale Ann David, Captain Andre Williams and Judge Advocate Winston Moore. If Adonis is found guilty of being absent without permission, he could spend up two years in military prison.