Nine fishermen have been convicted in Suriname for the fatal piracy attack in April last year in which over a dozen Guyanese fishermen were killed off the coast of the neighbouring country.
Three persons were acquitted of the crime after the judge ruled that there was no evidence to convict them.
It was reported in the Times of Suriname, that seven Guyanese fishermen: Chris Parasram, Rameshwaru Roepnarain, Mandre Kishoor, David Williams, Ramdeo Persaud, Ray Torres and Ganesh Beharry, were all sentenced to 35 years imprisonment each. While Feroz Bkish was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment and Terry Durga was sentenced to five years imprisonment.
According to the Suriname news report, the men were all indicted on two separate offences. Subdistrict Judge, Marie Mettendaf sentenced the men to 25 years each on one charge and 10 years each on another.
Stabroek News was told that Ramdeo Persaud signalled his intention in court to appeal the sentence.
Sureshdien N, Premnauth P and Doodnauth M were acquitted due to lack of evidence. According to the Suriname news report, the judge ruled that while it seemed obvious that the men were connected to the incident no “solid proof” was presented.
On April 27th, 2018, four Guyanese boats, carrying a total of 20 persons, were attacked off the coast of Suriname. The perpetrators, reported to have been armed with guns and cutlasses, chopped and beat the fishermen before robbing them. Some of the men were ordered to jump overboard with their injuries, while others were thrown into the water with batteries strapped to their legs.
Four men who survived the attack swam until they were rescued by passing vessels. Two weeks later, another survivor was found.
Those missing and presumed dead have been identified as Tilaknauth Mohabir, 50, also known as ‘Kai’; Ganesh Beharry; Ralph Anthony Couchman, 19, also known as ‘Burnham’; Ramesh Sancharra, 48; Glenroy Jones, 21; Ramnarine Singh; Bharat Heeralall, also known as “Record,” 49; Sunil, known as Poddock; Mahesh Sarjoo, 35; Rajkumar Bissessar; Randy Burnette; and Olenski Maxwell. Three other fishermen are still to be identified.
One week later there was another attack out on the coast of the Matapica Canal, approximately eight miles from the mouth of the Paramaribo River, which claimed the life of Hardeo Beechan, called Ganesh, 32.
Following the attacks, the police in Guyana had collaborated with their counterparts in Suriname and several arrests followed here.
Among those held were Premnauth Persaud, also known as ‘Sinbad,’ and Nakool Manohar, also known as ‘Fyah,’ who were jointly charged in connection with the attacks. They were jointly charged with the murder of Mohabir and Sarjoo.
The two have since been committed to stand trial in the High Court after a preliminary inquiry was completed in the magistrate’s court in Berbice.
Alexander Denheart, 19, was also charged with the murder of Mohabir.
