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Nandlall’s lawyer says he was never informed of new court day

Jun 09, 2019 News

Attorney-at-law Glenn Hanoman has expressed shock at media reports about him and his client, former Attorney General Anil Nandlall, being absent for a scheduled hearing of the trial into the theft of Law Reports from the State.
Hanoman in a missive to the media said that he was never informed that his client’s trial was fixed for Wednesday, June 6, as promised by the Magistrate’s clerk.
Hanoman sought to explain that the absence of him and his client was neither deliberate nor due to any form of inadvertence. According to him, “It is also important that I make it clear that from the inception, this case was and is being heard in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court V, and the Magistrate (Fabayo Azore) is currently assigned responsibilities in the East Demerara Magisterial District. She only returns to the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court V to deal with incomplete pending cases, including this case.”
Hanoman said that it is unfortunate that the Prosecutor signaled intent to resort to the recourse of seeking an arrest warrant for his client on the next occasion Friday, June 28, when the prosecutor is familiar with the whereabouts of him and his client who are located less than a stone’s throw away from the court. He said that he interacts with the prosecutor on a regular basis.
Kaieteur News had previously reported that both Hanoman and Nandlall failed to appear in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Wednesday before Senior Magistrate Fabayo Azore before whom Nandlall’s trial into the alleged theft of Law Reports was fixed for continuation.
The reporter who was at court heard the police rank calling Nandlall’s name thrice; no one entered an appearance.
It was at this point that Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) Prosecutor Patrice Henry requested that a notice be sent to Nandlall informing him of his next court date. Prosecutor Henry indicated that if Nandlall does not appear before the court, he will ask that an arrest warrant be issued for him.
It is alleged that Nandlall, between May 18 and May 29, 2015, in the then capacity of Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs, fraudulently converted 14 Commonwealth Law Reports property of the Ministry of Legal Affairs, to his own use and benefit.
Nandlall has pleaded not guilty to the allegation and is out on self-bail, pending the hearing and determination of the trial.
Late last year, Magistrate Azore ruled that Special Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) Prosecutor, Patrice Henry, was able to prove every element of the offence. In the circumstances, Nandlall was called upon to lead a defence. His lawyers approached the High Court for a stay to be granted in the matter, but Chief Justice Roxane George, dismissed the appeal against a no-case submission that was overruled by Magistrate Fabayo Azore in the trial.
The no-case submission was presented by Nandlall’s lawyer after the close of the prosecution’s case. The Court of Appeal then granted an interim stay in the trial of the former Attorney General. The Court of Appeal is yet to begin hearing arguments in the substantive matter.
Nandlall was previously reported as saying that when he took up the post of Attorney General, he did so at a loss, and it was for that reason, he agitated for the State to pay for the Law Reports. He had said that the arrangement received the blessings of then Head of State, Donald Ramotar.
However, investigators are contending that because the books were bought with State funds, they cannot be the property of Nandlall, and in fact, the State should not have entered into such an arrangement in the first place.
The Ministry of Legal Affairs is contending that there is no evidence of an agreement between Nandlall and Ramotar, and even assuming that there was such an agreement, the use of public funds in this manner is a flagrant violation of the Financial Management and Accountability Act. Nandlall was charged after SOCU, an arm of the Guyana Police Force, completed investigations.

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