Case of alleged sexual abuse of boys by Muslim scholar reopens

– report sent to Social Protection Minister

The Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) have ordered the reopening of the case involving Muslim scholar Nezaam Ali, who has been accused of sexually abusing nine minor boys.

According to the DPP Office, the case has been forwarded to Magistrate Alex Moore for hearing at a later date.
“In a letter dated February 13, 2017, Director of Public Prosecutions Shalimar Ali-Hack remitted the matter to the Magistrate to re-open the paper committals,” a statement from the DPP office said.
On that same date, the DPP issued a directive to the Guyana Police Force to obtain certified copies of the original documents before the re-opening of the paper committals.
The DPP Office has said that, subsequent to the first preliminary inquiry held before Magistrate Moore, it was discovered that original documents which were tendered during the preliminary inquiry (PI) had gone missing from the depositions.
The DPP has since forwarded a position report on the matter to Social Protection Minister Amna Ali.
The mother of three of the alleged rape victims recently told sections of the media that persons have been taking photographs of her sons, and she regards this act as bullying. She said the matter had been reported to the police a few weeks ago.
Earlier this year, documents were discovered missing in the rape case, but Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum told the press in March this year that the police will reinstitute the nine charges.
The parents and relatives of some of the alleged victims have publicly expressed their frustration at the situation. One parent has even claimed that there has been a deliberate attempt to drag out the matter. Ali was charged in 2012 with raping nine boys, and was committed to stand trial the following year. Shortly after the committal, his lawyer, Nigel Hughes, had filed in the High Court an action to have the committal overturned. This was rejected by the court, and it was ruled that the committal would remain.
The mother of three of the boys and an official from the Child Care and Protection Agency (CCPA) discovered — in January this year — that the birth certificates and medicals for the boys had gone missing from each of the nine files.
A group of child rights advocates have since called for an investigation into the disappearance of the documents from the case files.