Coalition MPs and supporters before the court

Aug 15, 2021 News

---

The Court Journal…

Kaieteur News – Since the change of Government in August 2020, a number of A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition members were charged and placed before the court to answer to a series of charges.

Those persons are: Opposition Chief Whip, Christopher Jones; Opposition Member of Parliament, Annette Ferguson; People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R) Chairperson and former Minister of Public Health, Volda Lawrence. Others charged are: APNU+AFC activist, Carol Smith-Joseph, and coalition supporters Mark Griffith, Gary Morris, Malcolm Billison, Travis Ellis, Gordon Lucas and George Halley.
The most recent person who was charged is MP Ferguson. She made her first court appearance in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Senior Magistrate, Leron Daly, to answer to a Cybercrime charge.
Ferguson denied the charge, which alleges that on June 15, 2021, she used a computer system to transmit data with intent to cause substantial emotional distress to a senior officer of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Colonel Omar Khan.
She is being represented by attorney-at-law, Lyndon Amsterdam. In his address to the court on the first hearing, Amsterdam stated that his client is a public figure and then made an application for Ferguson to be released on self-bail, which was granted by the Magistrate.
According to reports, the Opposition MP is charged for falsely alleging in a Facebook post that Khan will be in charge of a “killing squad.”
Kaieteur News understands that Ferguson’s post, which refers to the “setting up of Death Squad and Black Clothes groups,” stemmed from discussions had during the considerations of Financial Paper 2/2021 during the parliamentary session on June 14, 2021.

During the debate, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira, told the House that the concept of the Regional Joint Support Teams is a new crime-fighting initiative formulated in April 2021, and that the supplementary provision for the period ending December 2021 is to “set up” the initiative.
The Government MP had explained that the Regional Joint Support Teams will not denigrate or usurp the functions of the GDF or the GPF, but is intended to enhance the capacity of the law enforcement agencies in Guyana to fight crime, regardless of the type of crime, with the support of the GDF.
However, following that parliamentary session, an online news agency published a story headlined, “Exclusive: PPP secures $250 million budget to resuscitation Black Clothes Death Squad.” The Opposition MP subsequently shared the article with her own commentary. Both the Joint Services Coordinating Council (JSCC) and the Ministry of Home Affairs had condemned the Opposition MP’s post and cautioned citizens against the “reckless and irresponsible social commentary.”
Additionally, the Opposition MP is before the court facing a joint procession charge. In May 2021, Ferguson along with Jones, the Opposition Chief Whip, and six coalition supporters were charged for illegal procession during the 2020 elections.
On May 7, 2021, that matter was called in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Senior Magistrate, Leron Daly.

The procession charges stem from a march outside of the High Court in Georgetown, in April 2021, following the ruling on the elections petition case by Chief Justice (Ag) Roxane George-Wiltshire.The six supporters who were charged are Mark Griffith, Gary Morris, Malcolm Billison, Travis Ellis, Gordon Lucas and George Halley. On the first hearing of the matter, Billison and Morris were absent but later made their court appearance.
The first joint charge alleges that Jones and Ferguson along with the six coalition supporters on April 26, 2021, at Georgetown, illegally engaged in a procession without permission from the Commissioner of Police.
They were charged under Section 12 of the Public Order Act, Section 12, which stipulates, “Any person who holds, organises, forms, speaks at or takes part in any public meeting or public procession at which a noisy instrument is used without the permission of the Chief Officer of Police shall be guilty of an offence.” The law further outlines that anyone found guilty could face a fine of $26,000 and be imprisoned for up to four months.
The Opposition MP’s along with the supporters denied the joint charge after it was read to them, they are currently out on $20,000 bail each.

Moreover, in relation to the same incident Ferguson was slapped with an individual charge, which alleges that on April 26, 2021, she obstructed a peace officer from conducting his duties. She pleaded not guilty and was placed on $10,000 bail for that offence.
In another matter, Lawrence’s allege controversial signature on a GECOM document earned her two electoral fraud charges. In October 2020, Lawrence was slapped with two conspiracies to commit fraud charges. Her matter was also heard in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Chief Magistrate, Ann McLennan.
She was arrested in relation to her involvement in the activities that took place at the Ashmins Building, Georgetown, which was, at the time, set up as the command centre for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) for the March 2, 2020 elections.
She was not required to plead to the charges which allege that she conspired with others to defraud the people of Guyana for the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections.
According to reports, Lawrence’s signature was on Form 24 for Region Four which had the fraudulent numbers that were allegedly concocted by Region Four Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo, and that Form 24 contained figures intended to assure the APNU+AFC coalition victory in the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections.
Meanwhile, in another matter, Lawrence is facing joint charges with APNU+AFC’s activist, Carol Smith-Joseph, and a former Guyana Electio

ns Commission (GECOM) employee. On August 27, 2021, the trial for those matters will commence before the Chief Magistrate.
The first charge alleges that on March 5, 2020, with intent to defraud, Lawrence and the former GECOM employee uttered a report purporting to be a true declaration of all votes cast in District Four for the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections, knowing same to be forged.
Another charge alleges that on March 13, 2020, the former GECOM employee and Smith-Joseph uttered a forged document purporting to be a true report of all votes cast in the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections, knowing that the report was forged. It is also alleged that on the said date, Joseph conspired with Mingo and others to declare a fraudulent count of votes for District Four.
Back in April, the Chief Magistrate had ruled in favour of submissions by the prosecution for the charges against the trio to be disposed of summarily. This paved the way for the trial to commence, since the prosecution has already made full disclosure of statements to the defendants.

 

 

 

 

---

---