In any ordered state governed by laws, the procurement of justice is the role of the public prosecutor’s office. It is the head of this office and his/her employees who provide legal advice to the police as regards the prosecution of criminal matters. The advice to charge is given after a prosecutor reviews the evidence collected by police investigators and determines that a crime has been committed, and that there is sufficient physical and/or circumstantial evidence to indicate that the accused person/s committed the crime. In some countries, the prosecutors work along with the police to ensure that all of the relevant evidence is gathered and that it is done in accordance with the law. Once this is done, the prosecutor is then in a position to confidently represent the state in the pursuit of justice.
It is not unheard of, in fact it is the norm for prosecutors in ordered societies to take special interest in cases involving the abuse of children and to work towards ensuring the satisfactory culmination of such matters. Having seen the evidence and interacted with the victims, they recognise the importance of not just making certain that justice is served, but that it is done with some amount of alacrity.
Our reportage on Sunday regarding the case involving Muslim scholar Nezaam Ali, who was charged with raping nine boys between December 2011 and January 2012 surely points to a lack of order in this society. It would seem that in this case the pursuit of justice has been left to the mother of three of the boys. Ominously, the parents or guardians of the other six boys have been quiet. Is it that they, like so many others who have been frustrated by long delays in the administration of justice, have given up hope of attaining such?
It was this mother’s constant approaches to the police, the courts and the Child Care and Protection Agency that resulted in her verifying information she had gleaned elsewhere: that the case files were incomplete as the copies of medical certificates and birth certificates were missing. Not only that, it was through her militancy that the case files were transferred to the High Court from the Magistrate’s Court where the preliminary inquiry had been conducted and closed since November 2013.
Particularly disconcerting is the fact that the mother first heard that the aforementioned documents were missing at her place of worship. The logical assumption from this being the source of the information is that the documents were deliberately removed, as opposed to being misplaced. One would have hoped that the disappearance of case files and important documents from case files, which could stymie justice or ensure such matters never make it to court would have been guarded against by astute officers of the court interested in the pursuit of justice. This does not appear to be the case.
Further, it is disappointing that the appointed prosecuting attorney, if there is one, appears to be not actively involved as it pertains to keeping the parents of the virtual complainants up to date or reassured, or even informed that the Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions is ready and willing to present a strong case to a judge and jury when the time comes. It must be obvious from the current lamentations over delays in cases that the average man/woman in the street does not grasp all of the processes of the court and therefore should be informed that his/her case has not been forgotten. Given that the accused in this case has been committed to stand trial in the High Court, it is now under the purview of the public prosecutor, who works for the state and its people.
The mother of the three boys, who are all now four years older than they were at the time the crime was committed, appeared to be at the end of her tether, but gave no indication that she is prepared to throw up her hands and give up any time soon. Instead, she asked what happens now.
In the face of deafening silence from the relevant authorities, there has been a welcome response in the form of a letter from Help and Shelter, Red Thread, the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association and two social activists, published in this newspaper yesterday, calling for an investigation into the disappearance of the documents. If nothing else, it must be reassuring to the boys’ mother to know that she is not alone in her cause to obtain justice for her children.
The ball is now in the state’s court to inquire into the disappearance of the documents, ensure they are replaced with copies from the relevant agencies, secure the nine files to prevent a reoccurrence and place this case on a judge’s docket for trial.