-three remain at large

NINE East Coast Demerara (ECD) residents, were, on Monday, released on $300,000 bail each for their alleged roles in the 2022 East Coast Demerara unrest which ended at the Mon Repos Market.

Mark Hercules, Dave Berkshire, Terrence Adolphus Nedd, Antony English, Keon Glasgow, Julian Peters, Tony MacKinnon, Carlos Kingston, and Phillip Burke appeared before Magistrate Alisha George at the Sparendaam Magistrates’ Court.

The men were not required to plead to the charge which was laid under the Acts of Terrorism, contrary to Section 309 (A) (1) (b) (ii) of the Criminal Law (Offences) Act, Chapter 8:01.

Particulars of the charge alleged that the men, on June 28, 2022, between Golden Grove and Mon Repos, while being in the company of others and with the intent to strike terror, used wood and other materials to block, burn and damage the public road.

The men were not required to plead to the indictable charge.

Burke was represented by attorney-at-law Eusi Anderson, while the others were represented by attorneys-at-law Dexter Todd and Dexter Smartt.

They were released on $300,000 bail each, on the condition that they lodge their passports at the court and report to the Cove and John Police Station on the 14th of each month.

Magistrate George adjourned the case until February 28, 2023.

On February 15, 2023, the Guyana Police Force issued wanted bulletins for 12 men. The nine who were charged turned themselves in. However, three remain at large.

On June 28, 2022, the protest initially started at Golden Grove, where persons took to the streets, calling for justice after they were misled by a false media report that the police officer purportedly involved in the killing of Quindon Bacchus had been released.

What started as a verbal chant quickly escalated as scores of persons blocked sections of the ECD corridor with debris, and eventually made their way to Mon Repos, where they reportedly beat vendors, robbed them and destroyed their property. The government later issued compensation to the affected vendors.

Following the protest, 16 men appeared at the Cove and John Magistrate’s Court for allegedly engaging in riotous behaviour. However, no arrests were made for the robbery of the vendors.

Lance Corporal Kristoff DeNobrega was subsequently charged and remanded to prison for the murder of Bacchus, while his colleagues Lance Corporal Thurston Simon, and Cadet Officer Dameion McLennon, were accused of obstruction for their alleged actions following the shooting incident.