| By Nadia GuyadeenOver the years,Deion Jones Falcons Jersey, Guyana has seen many cases where persons have been incarcerated for extended periods, sometimes without their cases being heard. Many have questioned why this is so.Only recently, prison authorities began investigating the issue of prisoners not being taken to court in areas far from the city.This could possibly be one of the reasons why some cases take a very long time to be dealt with and completed.Director of Prisons, Dale Erskine,Pat Tillman Cardinals Jersey, has said that the issue came to light after several prisoners voiced their complaints having missed several court appearances.According to him,Kurt Warner Cardinals Throwback Jersey, it is the responsibility of the police to take the prisoners to court. He added that investigations so far confirm the prisoners’ complaints.Erskine noted that on occasions, the prisoners are picked up from prison to go to court but for some reason or other never reach that destination.Many inmates of the Georgetown Prison have been on remand for several years awaiting the hearing or completion of their cases.One example of this is the case of Justin John, of North Rupununi, a man in his fifties, who is charged for the murder of his brother, who was stabbed to death.John was committed to stand trial in the High Court on June 4,Cheap Baltimore Orioles Jerseys, the last sitting of the Lethem Magistrate’s Court, after five years of being on remand.This newspaper understands that John has been incarcerated since May 31, 2003.His matter was being heard by Magistrate Allen Wilson at the Lethem Magistrates’ Court, which sits for one week every three months. Kaieteur News also understands that John has had no lawyer throughout his case so far.Speaking to Kaieteur News, Magistrate Wilson said that John was not before him for five years.According to him,Marlon Humphrey Jersey, there was a Magistrate handling the matter before him and the Preliminary Inquiry never commenced before that Magistrate, so John was just on remand awaiting the commencement of his PI.The Magistrate added that when he was appointed, he inherited the case and commenced the PI.He noted that the PI was not concluded as quickly as it ought to due to difficulties on the prosecution’s part to get all the witnesses in court.The end result, Magistrate Wilson said, was that some of the witnesses who had given statements to the police were not able to testify.He said that given the length of time he told them that at the last sitting something had to be done.On June 4, the prosecution closed their case without all the witnesses testifying. On the last sitting only one more witness testified.Magistrate Wilson said that on the basis of that deposition and those of the other witnesses that testified, John was committed to stand trial for murder since a prima facie case was made out against him.Magistrate Wilson also said that John was not present at all of his court appearances and not all the time when he was present, the prosecution was able to get the witnesses.He added that a lot of the witnesses had to travel large distances and that posed a problem for the police.Magistrate Wilson contended that the police lack resources and that has had an impact on the work of the court.This newspaper understands that the police at Lethem only have one vehicle.The Magistrate had also pointed out that one implication of cases taking such a long time is the fact that witnesses might migrate and/or die.He noted that when the Chief Justice recently granted bail to a murder accused the first person he thought of was John.Information out of the court registry revealed that all the courts in the outlying areas, including Mabaruma, Lethem and Matthews Ridge,Angel Di Maria Jersey, sit for one week every three months.This newspaper understands that for this year there are about 25 new cases at Lethem and about five at Mabaruma and that both court have in excess of 50 matters each. |
