Jury to be empanelled in…
SPECIAL Prosecutor Mr. Bernard De Santos, S.C., who is appearing for the State in the Conspiracy to defraud case against Abubakir Abdel Bari, which was to have begun yesterday, was delayed by transportation problems at Adventure, Essequibo, and did not arrive home until yesterday afternoon.

As a consequence, when the news reached the Demerara Assize court yesterday, where Abubakir Bari was waiting to have a mixed jury empanelled to try his case, Justice James Bovell-Drakes directed the jury panel to return this morning when the 12-member jury will be empanelled.

When the matter was first called up for hearing before Justice Bovell-Drakes at the Demerara Assizes some time ago, the accused failed to answer his name.

At this stage, Mr. De Santos for the Prosecution told the court that information had reached him to the effect that the accused was out of the country and that the State would be proceeding.

Attorney-at-Law Mr. Nigel Hughes indicated that he was representing Abubakir, on whose behalf he was offering an apology for his absence.

He declared that the prosecution knew full well that the accused had gone overseas for medical treatment and asked that the Court be adjourned to Thursday October 22 when his client was expected to be in Guyana.

Mr. De Santos said that he had no objection to the adjournment to October 22, adding that counsel’s assertion that the prosecution had known that the accused had gone overseas for medical attention was ill founded, for if such was the case, he (De Santos) would have been notified.

De Santos noted that the ‘pigeons’ might have brought the message about medical attention.

The conspiracy to defraud contrary to common law charge accuses Abubakir Abdel Bari and Atta Sankar with having, between December 12, 1992 and August 1993, in the County of Demerara of conspiring together and with each other and with other persons to defraud the trustees and beneficiaries of immovable properties situated at Lot 250 Foreshaw and Oronoque Streets, Queenstown, Georgetown, by falsely and dishonestly:

(a)Signing and executing trust deed No. 9893 in purported capacities as chairman and secretary respectively of the Islamic Call Society.

(b)Reciting in the said trust deed No. 98/93 that the said Islamic Call Society had on the 10th February 1984, by resolution, discharged the trustees in whom the said properties were vested by transports 499/50, No. 57/82 and No. 36/82 and had appointed the said Atta Sankar and the said Abubakir Abdel Bari as the new trustees.

(c)Filing affidavits of vendor and purchaser in the Deeds Registry purporting to show that on December 12, 1992, the said properties were sold by Atta Sankar to Abubakir Adel Bari for Gy$5,000,000 (and) causing the said properties to be transferred and vested by transport No. 915A/93 in the (name of the) said Abdel Bari.

(d)Signing Transport No. 915A/93 as trustees of the said properties.

(e)Causing to be made documents purporting to show that payments were made by the said Abubakir Abdel Bari towards the purchase of the said properties.

On the occasion, Mr. De Santos disclosed that the State would be prepared to go ahead with the case of Bari alone.