AFC councillor for the Region Eight Regional Democratic Council (RDC) Naiem Gafoor was yesterday charged with holding a procession without permission, following a protest in Bartica last month.
Gafoor was placed on self-bail after appearing at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts to answer the charge.
It is alleged that on August 4, at 111 Miles Mahdia, he held a procession along the Mahdia compound and airstrip without first obtaining permission from the Police Commander.
The defendant pleaded not guilty to the charge when it was read to him.
Attorney Khemraj Ramjattan, who represented Gafoor, said that his client was leading a procession for better roads in the community and had given the police prior notification of the activity.
He said the police, however, subsequently said that no permission was sought; a claim, he said, the defence will vigorously contest. He said his client thought he was doing only what “he thought he was constitutionally entitled to do.” In an application for self-bail, Ramjattan said that Gafoor, 48, has a fixed place of abode at Mahdia, is an upstanding citizen, and has strong ties to his community in which he operates his own spare-parts shop.
He added that his client had no antecedents and posed no risk of flight.
Counsel said also that Gafoor is the AFC councillor for the Mahdia district.
After hearing the case, Magistrate Judy Latchman granted counsel’s request and ordered Gafoor to attend Court One on September 8.
