EIGHTEEN-year-old Azim Shivgobin, who allegedly committed wilful and corrupt perjury in order to procure the conviction of Salim Bacchus, alias Black Salim, has been charged with perjury.He appeared before New Amsterdam Magistrate Charlyn Artiga, but was not required to plead to the charge, and was ordered to post $500,000 bail.

The case has been transferred to the Springlands Magistrate’s Court, where it is fixed for a May 15 report.

The charge against Shivgobin was instituted after he had appeared at the Berbice Assizes as the main prosecution witness in the case of the State versus Salim Bacchus, his uncle, who was accused of murdering Police Detective Constable Jirbhand Diamanand, who had been assigned to the Narcotics Branch of the Criminal Investigation Department in Berbice.

Between December 6 and 17, 2012, during the preliminary inquiry into the death of the constable, the defendant had told the court that he had been in company with his uncle, Salim Bacchus, when the latter had walked up to the now deceased policeman who had been seated in a car, and, shortly afterwards, two gunshots had been fired.

However, during hearing of the case before Justice Franklyn Holder, the teenager alleged that he had given evidence at the lower court, and, at the conclusion, he was told by the magistrate to add, alter or correct anything in the evidence.
However, he said, he had opted to neither correct, alter nor add anything, but had subsequently signed those documents declaring the contents to be true and correct.

But under questioning by State Prosecutrix Ms Natasha Backer, Shivgobin said police had forced him to relay the events which led to the fatal incident. Subsequent to his testimony, Shivgobin was arrested and had his charge instituted at the New Amsterdam Court.
He is yet to post bail.