45 years for vaginal insertion

Feb 23, 2022 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

Kaieteur News – This is my third column on what I believe is a miscarriage of justice. The other two columns were written five years ago. The son of a very prominent politician was sentenced to 45 consecutive years for inserting his fingers in a purported underage girl.
Two dimensions of that trial worried me and I came to the conclusion that the jury was not properly directed. One is that there was no documentary evidence that the victim was underage. The prosecutor submitted a letter from the Georgetown Hospital that stated on a particular day the mother of the complainant gave birth to a girl child.
In no court elsewhere that would meet the litmus test of evidence. This semi-literate man defended himself in court and could not ask one well-structured question. There is no way top notch lawyers in Guyana would have allowed that Georgetown Hospital document to pass as proof.
The second worrying aspect of the trial was the admission by the complainant of the time she began having sex in her life and that she was currently having sex with a boy whose name she did not know. I got involved in the case because I knew the defendant’s father well. Secondly, the young man tended to my vehicle at the car wash and so I got to know him and his friends and his friends appealed to me.
I asked, attorney Madan Kissoon (no relation) to do an appeal. It could not be done because there was no written judgment. Kissoon told me he needed the document to outline his appeal. One year later, the judge’s decision was still not written. I went three times, since I got involved, to locate Madan Kissoon but couldn’t find him. I moved on and only returned to this unpleasant court case because of a recent decision, on a rape convict in Guyana, by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).
The CCJ found that Calvin Rambarran’s sentence of 23 years was too harsh and reduced it to 12 years. Rambarran was jailed for a violent rape. In giving its decision the CCJ outlined that there are sentencing structures that both the High Court and the Court of Appeal did not follow.
Interesting to note is that the CCJ made some comments in a case in which 27 years for rape of a minor in the case of Pompey versus the state was “plucked out of thin air.” There was no violence in the case of the politician’s son. He was accused of vaginal insertion with his fingers. His confinement of 45 consecutive years remains the highest so far in the annals of rape cases.
I do not think 45 years is harsh if the circumstances of rape of a minor warrant it. Most definitely 45 years or more are justified if there is brutal physical damage. I do not hold any opinion on the guilt or innocence of this convicted man. I got involved when I was told what transpired in court.
I am completely and totally against excluding the press from covering rape cases. There should be guidelines as to what and how the press can report. But not to have anyone in court when a defendant is facing a life sentence in a rape case is a constitutional grey area.
That semi-literate accused could not defend himself properly and I believe the jury was not properly guided. What interests me in this case is how priceless is the value of a free trial. For this reason I wrote last week that Ghislaine Maxwell was not given a fair trial.
It doesn’t matter how heinous the crime is, once you throw away priceless points of law because you think an accused is guilty, then, law becomes a caricature and a fair trial is no longer guaranteed in a nation. One of the persons charged with the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was freed. Points of law, not emotions and beliefs, were the deciding factor.
I am still at a loss to know why one of Guyana’s most prominent politicians has not sought legal help in pursuing his son’s case. I have done all that I could. If anyone wants to help this man then they should contact me at [email protected] or on cell number 614-5927.
I will not reveal the name of the politician until I am convinced that the helper has finalised the transaction with the lawyer.
I conclude with the warning that it is not what the man has been charged with. It is the fundamental rights to a free trial that both priest and crook are entitled to. There can be no civilised society if there is no free and fair trial.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)