Latest update April 18th, 2025 8:12 AM
Bisram’s Habeas Corpus petition denied in US court
Charged: Marcus Bisram
A Federal Judge of the United States District Court in Brooklyn, on Tuesday denied a Habeas Corpus petition by United States-based Guyanese, Marcus Bisram, who has been fighting extradition to Guyana. Bisram is alleged to be the mastermind in the murder of Berbice carpenter Faiyaz Narinedatt, which occurred during a visit by Bisram to Guyana in October 2016.
On Tuesday, New York Judge, Kiyo A. Matsumoto upheld a ruling by Judge Peggy Kuo of the Eastern District Court of New York that there was sufficient evidence for Bisram to be extradited to Guyana to face the murder charge.
In the ruling, the Judge noted that for the foregoing reasons, the habeas corpus action was denied and dismissed as well as the petitioner’s motion for evidentiary hearing.
In challenging Judge Kuo’s decision to extradite him, Bisram’s lawyers had challenged the credibility of the eyewitnesses’ accounts in the case. The lawyers argued that among other things, there was no probable cause to justify his extradition, since eyewitnesses in the matter had recanted their stories in the Guyana Courts.
Judges Kuo and Mastsumoto held that even if the eyewitnesses had recanted their stories, the issue of credibility should be dealt with by the Courts in Guyana.
Judge Matsumoto said the Guyana government informed the US Department of State that the murder charge against Bisram was still pending in a court in Guyana.
“Therefore, the petitioner has not satisfied his burden to demonstrate that the charges against him have been dismissed, and his unsupported claim that they have been dismissed and that probable cause is therefore lacking, does not warrant granting habeas relief,” Matsumoto concluded.
It was noted by the judge that throughout the proceedings, the petitioner maintained consistently that he was not challenging the court’s jurisdiction to preside over the matter of extradition, but whether there was probable cause to warrant extradition.
“His position with respect to the existence of a valid extradition treaty between the United States and Guyana, however, has been inconsistent,” the Judge ruled.
The judge stated too that the Government of Guyana submitted three exhibits. The first exhibit included information regarding the extradition treaty between the United States and Guyana, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ extradition request for the petitioner with respect to “the offence of murder, accessory before the fact”, and a statement by a Guyanese police officer describing the eyewitness statement.
Bisram’s lawyers here and abroad have been fighting his appearance before the courts on these shores to answer to the case.
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