Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan yesterday disclosed that no reasons were given by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for the directive to discontinue the private criminal charge against Head of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Wendell Blanhum over statements he made about Detective Sergeant Dion Bascom.
The magistrate made the disclosure to Bascom’s attorney, Nigel Hughes, at a hearing set to deal with the charges laid against the former.
Bascom appeared in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court yesterday for full disclosure on three cybercrime charges brought against him by the Guyana Police Force (GPF).
The magistrate told both him and Hughes that the documents were indeed provided by the police. However, she was unable to read them to the court since some were not clearly visible due to being extracted from a police diary.
Magistrate McLennan further informed Bascom and his attorney that a letter, dated September 15th, was sent to her from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) ordering her to discontinue the private criminal charge which was filed by Hughes against Blanhum.
Hughes then asked the Magistrate if any reasons as to why she discontinued the charge were cited in the DPP’s letter, to which the Magistrate replied in the negative. Additionally, he requested a copy of the DPP’s letter.
Meanwhile, the defence was told that their matters would be transferred to Court 2 where dates will be fixed for other court appearances. As a result, Senior Magistrate Leron Daly will now be hearing the matters, which were adjourned until September 28th for further disclosure and November 9th for the commencement of trial in Court 2.
On September 4, Bascom was faced with the three cybercrime charges. The charges allege that on August 13, at Eve Leary, Georgetown, he used a computer system to transmit electronic data with intent to humiliate, harass or cause substantial emotional distress to Superintendent Mitchell Caesar. He was also charged with doing the same on August 19th at Hadfield Street to Superintendent Chabinauth Singh and the same to Superintendent Caesar.
He was then granted his release on $100,000 bail on each charge.
Last month, Bascom made headlines when he took to Facebook where he made a live video claiming that a multi-million dollar bribe was accepted by a senior rank of the force to cover-up the murder of Ricardo Fagundes, also known as ‘Paper Shorts,’ while at the same time accusing the force of major corruption.
The allegations made by the officer came in wake of a drug bust by the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit (CANU) to which he was allegedly connected. In the videos, Bascom had expressed his dissatisfaction at the way the force handled him and other ranks and described it as ‘mistreatment.’
Due to his chilling allegations against the GPF, an investigation was eventually conducted by the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) and a review of the Fagundes murder probe was conducted by the Regional Security Service (RSS), with the latter indicating that it found no evidence of a cover up.
Hughes has raised questions over the RSS’ review, saying that the failure to interview Bascom was a major omission.
