Seven Cubans fined for overstaying

Jan 16, 2020 News

Seven Cuban nationals yesterday found themselves before Acting Chief Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts for illegally overstaying in Guyana.
Charged are Olga Chavez, Elizabeth Alberto, Joaquin Gamboa, Betsy Sayu, Indry Reytor, Daynier Roman and Vicente Reytor.
Their charges vary in the dates of overstaying. They overstayed a one-month period granted to them, with the oldest being from July 15, 2018. With the aid of a Spanish interpreter, all the defendants pleaded guilty to the offence.
The facts of the charges were presented to the court by Police Prosecutor Quinn Harris. He stated that the defendants came to Guyana via the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) and were granted one-month stay in Guyana.
The court heard that on January 13, 2020, the police were conducting an operation at the Mabura Police Station when they stopped a route 94 minibus proceeding to Lethem.
The defendants, who were passengers of the vehicle, were asked to produce their travel documents. Upon checking the documents the police found that they overstayed their time in Guyana. They were arrested and taken to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), Eve Leary, where an investigation was done and they were charged.
All the defendants, who had held reputable jobs in Cuba like auditing, financing and painting, told the court that their reason for overstaying was so that they could work and provide for their families as they fled their homeland because of the economic crisis.
They all highlighted that what they earn here in a few days, back in Cuba they take almost a month to earn. They even said that they felt comfortable because of the kindness and acceptance that was shown to them by Guyanese.
After listening to all sides the magistrate imposed a fine of $30,000 for each defendant. In default of paying the fine they will serve 40 days in prison.

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