Sharmila Inderjali, the mother of Guyanese murder accused, Marcus Brian Bisram, was on Tuesday acquitted of a witness tampering charge, after the magistrate upheld a no-case submission.
In late June, 2018, Inderjali was charged at the Springlands Magistrate’s Court with attempting to pervert the course of justice.
The charge stated that between June 1, 2017 and June 30, 2017, at Number 70 Village, Corentyne, she wilfully attempted to pervert the course of justice; that is to say, she asked a witness to give false evidence before Magistrate Rabindranauth Singh in the Preliminary Inquiry into the charge at the Springlands Magistrate’s Court.
Inderjali, who was represented by attorney Sanjeev Datadin, had pleaded not guilty to the charge and she was granted her release on $50,000 bail. However, her attorney on Tuesday presented a no-case submission, which was upheld by Magistrate Alex Moore.
Meanwhile, Inderjali, along with another woman, are still on trial for allegedly offering a policeman $4 million in cash to release the accused in the murder of Number 70 Village carpenter Faiyaz Narinedatt,
It is alleged that the two women, Inderjali and Maryanna Lionel, corruptly offered $4 million to Detective Sergeant Kamal Pitamal on November 19, 2016, at Eve Leary, to forego charges against the suspects in custody for the murder, as well as Bisram, who was overseas and at that time was wanted by local authorities in connection with the crime.
They now have to lead a defence in that case.
Meanwhile, Bisram is expected to be extradited soon to Guyana to face a murder charge after he lost his appeal against extradition in the United States Court of Appeal for the Second Circuit.
On February 14, 2017, following an investigation into Narinedatt’s death, Guyana submitted a formal request to the United States Department of State for Bisram’s extradition to face a charge of murder, after the accused had fled overseas.
However, on October 12, 2017, a magistrate judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York issued a Certificate of Extraditability, certifying to the Secretary of State that there was probable cause to believe that Bisram committed the charged murder and authorising the Secretary’s extradition of Bisram to Guyana.
On November 17, 2017, Bisram filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, challenging the Certificate of Extraditability. On October 31, 2018, following several extensions, the district court denied Bisram’s petition, concurring with the magistrate judge’s determination that there was “reasonable ground” to believe that Bisram committed the murder as charged.
Then Bisram, through his attorneys, appealed the district court’s denial of his habeas corpus petition.
The appeal court on Tuesday said that, “We have considered all of Bisram’s remaining arguments and find them to be without merit. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court”.
