Venezuelans denied hearing through administrative blunder granted bail
FOUR Venezuelans, facing joint charges of illegal possession of guns and ammunition, were granted $250,000 bail each, by Acting Chief Justice Ian Chang, in the Berbice High Court on Thursday. The alien quartet, Rafael Marquez, 43, Carlos Marcano, 18, Roisi Malave, 22 and Luis Mancilla, 34, in their petition for the grant, claimed that, while they were in the boat owned by the last named petitioner, in the Cuyuni River border between Guyana and Venezuela, Guyana Police Force (GPF) ranks, on marine patrol, ordered them into local territory.
They said their vessel was searched and two single-barrelled shotguns and a few cartridges, used for hunting, were found on board.
According to the documentation, presented by attorney-at-law Mr. Charrandas Persaud, the defendants were arrested on December 9, 2010, but, because there was no court sitting at Kamarang, in North West District, the case was called on December 30, 2010, in Georgetown.
However, a warrant was sent to the Georgetown Prison, for them to make their next court appearance March 31, 2011, when, in fact, Kamarang court sat during the week of March 21, 2011.
As a result, the petitioners were denied their court hearing, then, because of an administrative blunder and will now do so on June 20