Magistrate rules…
THE preliminary inquiry (PI) into the joint treason charge against former Lieutenant Colonel in the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Reserve, Leonard Wharton, serving Major Bruce Munroe and his wife, Carol-Ann Munroe, will commence on Monday, February 14. The date was fixed yesterday by Acting Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry after Police Inspector Fazil Karimbaksh, prosecuting, informed the court that the prosecution is ready to proceed.
The prosecutor also presented written replies to defence submissions for having the audio-visual evidence made available.
However, defence counsel Nigel Hughes, said he was surprised to read, in the very first sentence of the response, that the prosecution is not in possession of the recordings.
The lawyer recalled that, on the first occasion on which the case was called, the prosecutor had said the prosecution was in possession of them and stated, later, that the defence application for their release was premature.
Hughes said the tapes were played for the accused when they were first arrested and he was instructed that they were edited to implicate the trio.
The lawyer requested that the PI commence at an early date as the defence team will proceed without the recordings.
The magistrate said she prefers to make a ruling on whether to allow the recordings but Hughes persuaded her to start the pre-trial without dong so.
Wharton and the Munroes are accused of having, between December 1, 2009, and December 16, 2010, plotted to level war within Guyana and force the President out of office.
The capital offence charge is linked to the arson at the Ministry of Health in Brickdam, attempts at Richard Ishmael Secondary School and the Supreme Court and the gun attack at Brickdam Police Station, all in July 2009.
Colin Jones called ‘Bunny’, a recently self-confessed murderer and Kurt Thierens alias ‘Bage’ and ‘Glasses’, who the former admitted killing, had escaped from Providence Police Station, East Bank Demerara, on July 27 last year, when they were being held pending investigations into the terrorist attacks and murder.
Jones was captured at Amelia’s Ward, Linden, and is in prison awaiting trial on several charges.