Guyanese pirates handed heavy jail sentences in suriname

Nov 26, 2019 News

Seven pirates sentenced to 35 years imprisonment in Suriname

Seven pirates will each have to serve 35 years for the deadly piracy act committed on the High Seas in April 2018. Twelve fishermen are still missing as a result of that attack, according to a Suriname news source.

File photos of the killed and missing fishermen.

Chris Parsram, Rameshwar Roopnarine, Madre Kishore, David Williams, Ramdeo Persaud, Ray Torres and Ganesh Beharry, all Guyanese have been jailed for 35 years. Three others, Sureshdien N., Premnath P. and Doodnath M. were acquitted due to lack of evidence.
The Public Prosecution Service had made a five-year sentence proposal against the latter. They were present, but due to circumstances, their share in the legal and convincing

File photo of A few of the suspected pirates at the time of their arrests last year in Suriname.

evidence was not provided.
“It seems obvious to me, but I also need the solid proof. Then I should acquit the group of three,” the judge said, according to the Suriname news.
The Magistrate, Marie Mettendaf, delivered the verdict on Friday.
The convicted Feroz Bikash was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment with a deduction and Terry Durga was sentenced to five years.
The seized boats, shotguns and cutlasses were forfeited by the magistrate. “Paddy”, a boat captain, was shot dead in March 2018. After his death, various robberies and murder cases took place at sea.
Statements from witnesses indicate that many of the grisly acts that were carried out, took place after “Paddy’s” death. Victims were tied to anchors and thrown overboard with batteries. Others were forced to jump overboard. The victims were robbed of their fish, food and other goods.
Evidence presented to the court showed that 10 of the suspects were present when the act was carried out on April 27, 2018 while two were not.
Meanwhile, two other suspects Nakool “Fyah” Manohar and Premnauth “Sinbad” Persaud were committed to stand trial in the high court in Guyana recently.
Manohar is said to be the mastermind behind the attack in retaliation for his brother’s death. A third suspect Alexander Denheart still has his Preliminary Inquiry ongoing in the Magistrate’s court in Guyana.
According to the facts of the case, the four boats with 20 crewmembers were attacked by sea pirates that Friday evening in Surinamese waters in the vicinity of the Wia Wia bank. Only four of the crew members, including a captain of one of the boats, managed to make it to shore. The rest are believed to have perished.
The attack was in retaliation by pirates from Guyana for the shooting death of their leader, a Guyanese pirate called “Paddy” a few weeks before the attacks last year April.
The pirates blamed the fishermen. The pirate leader was reportedly shot dead during an attack on fishing vessels. The fishermen were thrown overboard or had to jump into the water themselves.
One of the crew members could not swim and he disappeared. Another person’s hands were tied, and a car battery was attached to his feet, after which he was thrown overboard.
Still missing are Tilaknauth Mohabir, 50, also known as ‘Kai’; Dinesh ‘Vickey’ Persaud, Ralph Anthony Couchman called ‘Burnham’, 19; Ramesh Sancharra, 48; Glenroy Jones, 21; Ramnarine Singh; Bharat Heeralall also known as “Record”, 49; Lalta Persaud known as “Paddock”, 42; Mahesh Sarjoo, 35; Rajkumar Bissessar; Looknarine Persaud; and Lokesh Decouite, 50.
Four fishermen survived the attack while four bodies were found.
The attacks had galvanised the authorities in Guyana and Suriname with visits made by investigators and increased cooperation.
Under the Dutch system, which Suriname operates, there is very little opportunities for the convicts to be paraded in public and for photographs as is the case in other jurisdictions.