Shaka Chase, charged with murdering corporal Romein Cleto, was this morning was freed based on advice from the DPP.
The prosecutor told the court that based on advice from the DPP the charge was being withdrawn. An overjoyed Chase ran out of the court room into the arms of waiting relatives. He told the media that he was happy for his release and thanked all those who stood by him.
Amid much drama and a heavy police presence on Monday, Police Prosecutor Sergeant Ramsahoye Rambajue told the court that the deceased, who was a serving member of the Guyana Police Force, was on patrol along with three other ranks at around 20:40 hrs in the vicinity of Avenue of the Republic and Regent Street, when they confronted a heavily tinted car. The occupants of the car discharged rounds, killing Cleto and wounding the other two officers.
Investigations were carried out, and the accused admitted that he and three others had committed the crime, the prosecutor said.
Attorney Nigel Hughes, who appeared for Chase on Monday along with Mark Waldron and James Bond said his client told him that he had been tortured and then made to sign a statement.
Hughes said the police had refused to take the alibi statements from persons who could attest to the whereabouts of Chase on the night of the murder. He said one of these persons was a traffic officer and the other is the owner of the shop where Chase was all night at a barbeque.
Hughes told the court that while at a barbecue, his client was told that the police were calling his name in connection with the murder and he subsequently went down to the station along with two family members.
He said that his client remained in custody for three days and was then released and it made no sense for him to confess to a crime he did not commit three weeks after.
He challenged the police prosecutor’s claim that Chase’s hand was swabbed and gunpowder residue found. He argued that if this was the case, then Chase should have been charged, rather than released and re-arrested three weeks later.
Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry had on Monday asked if the DPP had offered any advice in the matter. The prosecutor had said that the file had not been sent to the DPP as yet but that that would be done. The DPP’s advice would be seen as an embarrassing blow for the police in a high-profile murder case.
