The prosecution will, from March 4–8, commence leading evidence in Senior Magistrate Leron Daly’s Georgetown court in support of the dozens of fraud charges that resulted from attempts to rig the March 2020 General and Regional Elections – more than three years after the Police had first filed complaints.
Senior Magistrate Leron Daly will be presiding over these cases, the defendants of which are former District Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo; former People’s National Congress/Reform (PNCR) Chairperson Volda Lawrence; PNCR activist Carol Smith-Joseph; former Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield; former Deputy Chief Elections Officer Roxanne Myers; and Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) employees Sheffern February, Enrique Livan, Denise Babb-Cummings and Michelle Miller.
Among the offences these defendants are accused of committing are: misconduct while holding public office; presenting falsified documentation; and planning to manipulate Guyana’s voters by presenting an inaccurate vote total. These charges stemmed from attempts to rig the 2020 General and Regional Elections in favour of the then-ruling APNU/AFC. These accused persons are all out on cash bail.
From bottom left are: Enrique Livan, Sheffern February, Clairmont Mingo, and Carol Smith-Joseph
Lead prosecutor Darshan Ramdhani, KC, during another hearing on Monday, informed the court, “We are ready to commence leading evidence by the end of this month.”
“We have been ready to start from the day the charges were filed, because these charges are imaginary,” retorted defence attorney Nigel Hughes. Thick bundles of statements were signed and uplifted by the defendants, all of whom were present in court.
The first week of April and the first week of May have been designated for hearing additional testimony. All of these matters have been consolidated. Over 80 witnesses are slated to testify on behalf of the prosecution. Among the exhibits to be presented are certified copies of the Statements of Poll (SoPs), Statements of Recount (SoRs), and video interviews between defendants and detectives.
Hughes had suggested that the prosecution drop some charges to expedite the process, but the special prosecutor had strongly objected.
The fixing of the trial date comes days after Attorney General Anil Nandlall, SC, had bemoaned the pace at which the matters were being handled by the court. During his year-end press conference, the Attorney General had addressed the issue and lamented the time it was taking to move forward with a trial.
“After three years, those charges have not been able to secure a trial date. Now, I am the Minister of Justice, I cannot be pleased with this state of affairs. No decent-minded Guyanese can be pleased with this state of affairs. And I wish to make it abundantly clear that these are not politically-driven or inspired charges;
these are charges that relate to the misconduct of the electoral process by persons who have been appointed and paid by the taxpayers of this country to manage that process and ensure that the process meets the imperative of transparency, legality, and fairness,” Nandlall said.
