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Trade Unionist appeals two life sentences for rape
By Rehanna Ramsay
Kaieteur News – Trade unionist, Micah William is appealing his rape conviction and subsequent life sentences before the Guyana Court of Appeal. The appeal comes three years after Williams was found guilty and sentenced for the rape and sodomy of an eight-year-old girl.
Convicted: Micah Williams
The trade unionist is being represented by attorneys-at-law, Nigel Hughes and Ronald J. Daniels. The lawyers are arguing that the High Court erred in putting the evidence upon which Williams was convicted before the jury.
More specifically, Daniels contended that the trial judge did not fairly put his client’s defence to the jury.
Daniels has argued that his client was not the one who had abused the girl, that two persons had “guided” the complainant to implicate his client, to cover up for a 14-year-old boy who had actually committed the act.
The Court of Appeal has concluded hearing arguments into the case and reserved a date to hand down its decision.
Back in 2018, Williams was found guilty of two counts of sexual penetration of the eight year old girl by a 12-member mixed jury following their deliberations.
The indictment is that between January 1 and January 31, 2016, he engaged in sexual penetration with an eight-year-old girl. Then again on January 6, 2017, he engaged in sexual penetration with the same eight-year-old girl.
Williams is the founder and General-Secretary of the Guyana Natural Resources, Clerical and General Workers Union (GNRC&GWU). Back then, the jurors after deliberating for almost two hours returned with unanimous guilty verdicts in respect to both counts of the offence.
For his actions, Justice Jo Ann Barlow had sentenced Williams to serve life sentences on both counts, respectively. The two life sentences were to run concurrently and the convict only becomes eligible for parole after serving 20 years behind bars.
Kaieteur News understands that Williams who hails from Linden engaged in vaginal and anal sex with the young girl. The convicted rapist showed no remorse at all after being found guilty by his peers. In fact, he maintained his innocence.
He told the court, “This is the most terrifying day of my life. I know to my heart that I did not commit such an act.” He further went on to express his dissatisfaction with the decision of the jurors.
Justice Barlow nonetheless told Williams that there is no justification for his actions. The judge reminded him that in his capacity as a Trade Unionist, he advocated for the rights of people but violated the trust that the little girl had for him.
The trial judge told Williams, “I don’t find I could be lenient with you. You cannot claim ignorance of sexual abuse and its consequences.”
Reminding Williams that he testified to participating in campaigns against sexual abuse, Justice Barlow stressed that the emotional scars of such acts will have an effect on the young rape survivor.
During a plea in mitigation, Williams’ lawyer said that he is the sole breadwinner for his family and has always been an active member in the community. The lawyer asked the judge to take into consideration that this was the first time his client has been charged with an offence of such nature.
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