The Guyana High Court has asked Judge Dora L. Irizarry, who is the presiding judge in the Roger Khan trial, to send the letter requesting assistance in taking depositions from Guyanese witnesses for the trial directly to Registrar Sita Ramlal.
On July 22 Justice Irizarry had written to judicial authorities in Guyana seeking assistance in obtaining evidence from eight witnesses for the defence to be used in the trial set to commence on November 3.
However, in a letter written to the judge by one of Khan’s lawyers, Diarmuid White, which was seen by this newspaper, it was stated that while the letter was delivered to the High Court by one of Khan’s local lawyers, the court made two requests regarding the letter.
The first had to do with the letter being sent directly to Ramlal while the second was that the letter should include a specific statement that Khan is authorized and permitted by the laws of the US to make an application to the local court to request the appropriate judicial authority of Guyana to enforce the court’s order that depositions of the witnesses be taken.
“Although this is already implicit in the Letter Rogatory, the High Court requires it to be explicit,” the letter said.
In her letter in July the judge had said her court was seeking “international judicial assistance to obtain evidence to be used in a criminal proceeding before this court… in accordance with Laws of Guyana, Chapter 5:01 Evidence (Proceedings in Foreign Tribunals) Act).”
The judge had said the witnesses “may have information material to the trial of this matter, but have indicated that they are unwilling to travel to the United States to testify at the trial.” She had therefore ordered on June 2 last that the depositions be taken locally, following a request by the defence.
The letter had said that the court needed the assistance in the interest of justice. “The assistance requested is that the appropriate judicial authority of Guyana compel the appearances of the [witnesses] to give evidence at a deposition in Guyana.” The names of the witnesses were redacted from the court document so as to protect their identities.
