-after application thrown out by High Court
The elections fraud case is now finally set to begin in the magistrate’s court at the end of July following the rejection by the High Court of an application by the defence.
Special Prosecutor Darshan Ramdhani yesterday informed Magistrate Leron Daly that a constitutional challenge filed by Keith Lowenfield and Roxanne Myers, claiming a breach of their right to a fair trial, was dismissed by Chief Justice Roxane George. Following this, Magistrate Daly set the trial to commence on July 29, 2024, continuing until July 31, and resuming on August 5.
The constitutional challenge by Lowenfield and Myers centred on Section 140 (2) of the Representation of the People Act, which they argued infringed their rights to a fair trial and equality before the law. They claimed their actions in the elections were based on decisions documented in confidential minutes of Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) meetings, which they sought to disclose.
However, the Chief Justice ruled that the public interest in maintaining the confidentiality of GECOM’s deliberations outweighed the defendants’ claimed rights. The challenge was deemed to lack merit, with the Chief Justice describing it as a “fishing expedition.”
At yesterday’s proceedings Magistrate Daly informed both the prosecution and the attorneys to be prepared for the dates mentioned as the trial is expected to run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. She urged the prosecution to have their witnesses ready.
Lowenfield, the former Chief Election Officer and Myers, former Deputy Chief Election Officer, along with former Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo and several others, including Opposition MP Volda Lawrence, PNCR Member Carol Smith-Joseph, and Election Officers Sheffern February, Enrique Livan, Denise Bobb-Cummings and Michelle Miller face a variety of charges related to alleged fraud during the 2020 General and Regional Elections.
The charges which were initially read to the defendants in June of 2021 state that between March 2nd of 2020 and August 2nd also of 2020, they conspired with each other to defraud the electors of Guyana by declaring a false account of votes cast for the general election which was held on March 2nd, 2020.
