Magistrate dismisses racial hostility, cybercrime charges against former Mayor, MP
Senior Magistrate Leron Daily on Friday dismissed both racial hostility and cybercrime charges brought against former Mayor of Georgetown Ubraj Narine and Opposition Member of Parliament (MP) Sherod Duncan, ruling that the prosecution failed to establish a prima facie case.
The charges were filed against the duo in 2022 during a protest for vendors outside the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC).
Former Georgetown Mayor Ubraj Narine (left) and Opposition Member of Parliament Sherod Duncan, at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts
In filing the charges, the Police had said that the two intentionally transmitted a video in an attempt to incite racial division. They were not required to plea to the indictable charges, and were granted bail in the sum of $100,000 at the time.
In a detailed ruling on Friday, the Magistrate outlined several critical evidential and procedural deficiencies in the case presented by the state under both the Racial Hostility Act and Section 18 of the Cybercrime Act.
The charges stemmed from comments made in a video circulated online, in which Narine allegedly accused the Government of discriminating against Afro-Guyanese citizens while favouring Indo-Guyanese. Duncan, for his part, was accused of disseminating the video via social media.
Addressing the charge under the Racial Hostility Act, the Magistrate said the Prosecution failed to satisfy the four key elements necessary to sustain the charge.
Turning to the charge under the Cybercrime Act, the Magistrate expressed concern over the lack of foundational evidence regarding the device allegedly used to share the video.
A witness had testified seeing Duncan with a selfie stick and a cellphone, but the court said this alone did not establish that he transmitted the video using a computer system, as required by law.
In both matters, the court concluded that the Prosecution had failed to prove its case at even the most basic legal level. “When one or more elements of an offence are missing, the court has a responsibility to dismiss the case,” the Magistrate ruled.
As such, the charges were dismissed.
