Illegal procession matter dismissed against Opposition MPs, Coalition supporters

Jan 28, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – The illegal procession matter against the Opposition Chief Whip, Christopher Jones; Opposition Member of Parliament, Annette Ferguson and six members of the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) Coalition supporters, was yesterday dismissed.

Opposition Chief Whip, Christopher Jones.

The matter was being heard in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts before Senior Magistrate Leron Daly. The defendants were represented by attorney-at-law Nigel Hughes and his associates.
This publication had reported that the 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.
Jones, Ferguson and six Coalition supporters were called in the matter. Those six supporters are: Mark Griffith, Gary Morris, Malcolm Billison, Travis Ellis, Gordon Lucas and George Halley.

Opposition Member of Parliament, Annette Ferguson.

The joint charge alleges that Jones and Ferguson along with the six Coalition supporters on April 26, 2021, at Georgetown, illegally engaged in 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 defendants denied the joint charge after it was read to them and they were released on $20,000 bail each. The matter went

Four of the six APNU+AFC supporters who were charged.

to trial and as the prosecution closed its case, the defence submitted a no-case submission. In the defence submission, they highlighted that the prosecution failed to prove key elements of the charge.
Senior Magistrate Daly later ruled upholding the defence submission, resulting in the matter being dismissed.
Additionally, the individual charge against Ferguson, which alleges that on April 26, 2021, she obstructed a peace officer from conducting his duties, was also dismissed based on a no-case submission being made to the court on her behalf.

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