One of Dataram’s lawyers, Glen Hanoman, told Stabroek News yesterday that at the 12 pm hearing before Justice Roxanne George, his client presented himself having posted bail. He said that Police Commissioner Henry Greene or a representative did not appear in court as was ordered.
Hanoman said that he later asked the judge to discontinue the matter.
He noted that this situation (being arrested several times before being released) that his client was being subjected to was very oppressive. The defence said that with this matter disposed of they could now concentrate on the Magistrate’s Court matter which will be heard on March 4.
Dataram was arrested early last week and appeared before Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson. During the proceedings, Crime Chief Seelall Persaud applied for a provisional arrest warrant for Dataram on a trafficking in narcotics matter.
However the magistrate deferred her ruling and set last Friday as the next court date. On this occasion, Robertson again deferred ruling on the provisional arrest warrant request, although attorney-at-law Anil Nandlall representing the prosecution said that the Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee had signed an Authority to Proceed document in the matter.
Last October, an amendment to the Fugitive Offenders Act 1988 was passed by government; it includes a provision which empowers the Home Affairs Minister to make the final decision whether to extradite or not.
The Fugitive Offenders (Amendment) Bill 2009, seeks to address a conflict in the laws relating to extradition. The issue came into focus back in 2008 when the United States was seeking the extradition of Dataram (a Guyanese) for cocaine smuggling offences. The US was unable to secure Dataram’s provisional arrest because the extradition treaty between Guyana and the US contained a proviso which allowed the US to extradite to third countries, clashing with the provisions of the Fugitive Offenders Act.
Commenting on this amendment, Hanoman yesterday called it “the strangest piece of legislation I have ever seen which is clearly unconstitutional.”
The lawyer said that the amendment would be strongly challenged in this new court matter.
This is the fifth time since 2007 that the Crime Chief has sought a provisional warrant for the arrest of the Ruimzight Gardens, West Coast Demerara resident.
