At the height of proceedings yesterday, President of the Guyana Bar Association Christopher Ram withdrew the group’s participation from the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the prison unrest after declaring that he had “had enough” with how the proceedings were being run.
“As I said, I have had enough. The Bar Association will not sit down here and be interrupted unnecessarily. Already we have a serious problem; we are not being allowed a full opportunity to cross-examine,” Ram stated.
This statement followed an objection that was made by Joint Services attorney Selwyn Pieters when a question was posed to Deputy Director of the Camp Street prison, Gladwin Samuels about why he had been asked to proceed on leave.
Before his dramatic exit, Ram explained to the chairman that the time allocations and continuous “improper, unprofessional, and unethical” interruptions were compromising the purpose and objective of the commission. He also mentioned that Samuels, who testified yesterday, was a key witness, and it was therefore unfair that the cross-examination be bound by time rules.
Chairman of the CoI Justice James Patterson had instituted a limit on the time allotted to cross-examine witnesses after the extension was granted, stating that the Commission has a limited time in which to complete its task. While those leading examination often appear to be given free reign, those who cross-examine are now limited to 20 minutes, and any additional allocation of time is based purely on the discretion of the Chairman. Yesterday, however, the time was extended to 30 minutes.
This new stipulation discomfitted the attorneys, who complained time and time again that they could not properly do their jobs in such a short time frame, and would most likely have to stick to asking superficial questions.
