2020 elections fraud trial: Police interviews in which Lowenfield, Smith-Joseph stayed silent were shown to court

…TCI Presidential Candidate Rhonda Lam cross-examined

The fraud trial surrounding the 2020 General and Regional Elections continued on Wednesday as the trial Magistrate at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts viewed video recordings of Police interviews with two of the accused; former Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield and APNU/AFC Chief Scrutineer Carol Smith-Joseph.
The recordings, admitted into evidence by Magistrate Faith McGusty, showed both Lowenfield and Smith-Joseph repeatedly invoking their right to remain silent as investigators pressed them about key documents tied to the controversial vote count.
Smith-Joseph’s interview, recorded in November 2020 at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Headquarters, Eve Leary, was the first to be played. She was accompanied by her attorney, Nigel Hughes. Investigators confronted her with a declaration prepared on March 13, 2020, by then Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM)’s Kingston command centre. Asked about her signature on the document, she responded, “I am exercising my right to silence.”
She was also questioned about her passport and travel history. While confirming that she possessed a Guyanese passport and had signed her application, she declined to say more. When asked to provide a handwriting sample, she again refused, telling detectives, “I would refer to silence on that. You mentioned a lot of documents that you have, so why do you need more from me?”
“I have nothing to say on this.”
A separate video showed Lowenfield’s October 2020 interview at CID Headquarters, also conducted in Hughes’ presence. Like Smith-Joseph, he refused to answer questions about whether he held a Guyanese passport, although he was informed that Police already had his application and had sent it for handwriting analysis, along with election-related documents he had signed, including the official 2020 elections report and the National Assembly seat allocation list. His response was brief: “I have nothing to say on this.”
Lowenfield also challenged the legitimacy of the probe, citing Article 163 (1)(b)(i) of the Constitution, which vests exclusive jurisdiction over electoral disputes in the High Court.

Cross-examination
Meanwhile, testimony also came from Rhonda Lam, leader and Presidential Candidate of The Citizen’s Initiative (TCI). Under cross-examination by attorney Eusi Anderson, she outlined her role during the March 2020 elections.
Lam said she applied for observer accreditation on March 3, one day after the polls, and only received approval two days later. As a result, she admitted, TCI had no polling agents on election day, and she herself had received no training from GECOM or any other body on election observation.
On election night, March 2, Lam said she personally photographed 102 Statements of Poll (SoPs).from Region Four stations but did not cover Regions Three or Six, leaving that task to another party member. She later handed over comparative images to the Police and wrote to GECOM’s Chair to highlight discrepancies between her photos and the figures being published online.
Lam testified that she entered the Ashmin’s Building tabulation centre on March 4, joining more than 20 representatives and observers. She said she interacted that day with Deputy Speaker Lennox Shuman. On March 5, during a bomb threat evacuation, Lam observed several black bags inside the room, which some suspected contained SoPs. She noted the bags remained unsupervised for over an hour without GECOM staff present but added she deliberately avoided going near them to prevent accusations of tampering.
When asked about how she assessed credibility, Lam said she relied on trusted persons but did not consult APNU+AFC representatives. She further acknowledged that she had not read the manifestos of either of the two main political parties, explaining that her candidacy was a rejection of both.
Anderson also pressed her on whether, by March 2020, she had formed the view that the then APNU/AFC Government was incompetent. Lam did not give a direct answer, insisting instead that her decision to run was driven by dissatisfaction with both major parties.
Along with Lowenfield and Smith-Joseph, those charged are former APNU/AFC Government minister Volda Lawrence, former Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, former Deputy Chief Elections Officer Roxanne Myers, and former GECOM staffers Sheffern February, Enrique Liven, Michelle Miller, and Denise Babb-Cummings. The trial continues today.