Dear Editor,
I am an attorney-at-law practicing mainly in the Berbice magisterial district and what I am seeing with regards to the judicial system in this ancient county needs to be addressed in the interest of justice.
I will start with a look at ‘the arrest’. People are arrested for various crimes and are brought to trial. The presumption then is one of innocence until proven guilty. Why then are these people beaten by the police?
There are those who are arrested and detained for days for simply ‘threatening language’ or common assault-because the law is they can be detained for up to 72 hours. Then there are those who are arrested and denied bail for simple larceny. Is this justice? Really, why are people arrested?
Let me, in furthering my discussion, point to the eventful day of September 28, 2007. On that day at approximately 10:00 hours a young man was shot and killed in a robbery attempt at the New Amsterdam post office. A little later that day (it was a Friday) four vehicles loaded with members of the joint services, armed to the hilt, sped down a tiny street in the village of Betsy Ground, where I live, threw the whole village in fear as these heavily armed men barged into the home of Khemraj Singh and ransacked the whole house looking for who knows what. The reputed wife of Khemraj, who had moved in with him just a few months before, was petrified (who wouldn’t be?) as she was told that Khemraj is wanted by the police. My instructions were that Inspector Paul was in charge of the operation and that Khemraj should report to him in the morning when he returned from the ‘creek’ or they would come back for the wife.
That same day the very efficeient team of police and soldiers, led by Inspector Paul was very successful in their ‘investigation’. They arrested Timothy Samson–he was locked up for the whole weekend. Khemraj Singh returned late that night to his home and came to see me immediately. I took him and his reputed wife to see Inspector Paul the following morning. After a brief meeting Inspector Paul told me that they no longer needed Khemraj Singh to assist them in their investigation.
I wish to point out to the powers that be that the irony or perhaps a better word is tragedy here is that both Khemraj Singh and Timothy Samson were in the magistrate’s court at New Amsterdam waiting to appear before Magistrate Chandan at the very time the robbery at the post office was taking place.
In an attempt to justify the bullish and uncivilised attitude of our joint services operation on that September 28, 2007, Inspector Paul told me that they have a list of suspects and in the event there is a crime committed the people who are at the top of the list are the first to be ‘checked out’.
That would bring to mind the question, ‘how are they checked out’? Much like they checked out Kwami Kyte? Kwami Kyte was arrested on charges of robbery under arms committed on two persons on the Corentyne, detained for almost two weeks before he was released, without even an apology from the police when he was presented before Magistrate Persaud at the New Amsterdam magistrates court. Kwami was in prison serving time during the alleged robbery and was released from prison well after the alleged robbery took place. Is this justice?
Can our police ever be polite? Will they ever exhibit any semblance of intelligence in their investigations? Is bullying people into submission the answer or is it the only way our police force know how to get information?
Since we as Guyanese are so bent on being like our North American peers,( after all we try our best to speak with an American accent) can our police not try to adopt some of the behaviour of the Canadian police, for example?
Yours faithfully,
Charrandass Persaud
