A second witness yesterday took the stand to testify in the advocating a terrorist act, one of two indictable cases against ex-soldier Oliver Hinckson before Magistrate Gordon Gilhuys in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court.
Specially appointed prosecutor attorney-at-law Sanjeev Datadin led Detective Sergeant Trevor Reid in his evidence-in-chief.
The police officer was later cross-examined by defence counsel Vic Puran who is one of several attorneys representing Hinckson.
The matter was adjourned to May 22 after Reid had given close to one hour of testimony.
On March 11, the ex-soldier was charged with advocating the commission of a terrorist act and uttering seditious statements, which stemmed from a statement he made during a press conference at City Hall. He then appeared at the Georgetown Magistrate Court before Principal Magistrate Melissa Robertson-Ogle and was remanded to prison.Hinckson’s lawyers had wanted the two matters to be heard together but Datadin said yesterday that while the prosecution’s witnesses in both matters were ready to deal with the matters continuously, to avoid confusion it was best to deal with them separately.
Since his incarceration, his lawyers have been using different avenues to fight for bail with no success.
The preliminary inquiry began early last month with testimony from Government Information Agency Editor-in-Chief Michael Gordon.
However, he did not get far in his testimony as the defence lawyers continuously objected to the line of questioning by Police Prosecutor Robert Tyndall.
The case was further stalled, after Tyndall repeatedly requested an adjournment to seek advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Then on May 2, Datadin was appointed special prosecutor.
On that occasion, the magistrate agreed to an adjournment after Datadin asked for time to become acquainted with the files and the witnesses.
