FORMER Executive Member of A New and United Guyana (ANUG), Kian Jabour, on Wednesday, took the stand and recounted questionable actions that took place during the March 2020 General and Regional Elections.

Jabour was brought as the first witness yesterday as part of the long-awaited 2020 election fraud trial currently underway before Acting Chief Magistrate, Faith McGusty, at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.

Charged are People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) member Carol Smith-Joseph; former Health Minister under the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) government, Volda Lawrence; former Chief Elections Officer (CEO) at the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Keith Lowenfield; former Deputy CEO at GECOM Roxanne Myers; former Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) Returning Officer, Clairmont Mingo; and GECOM employees Sheffern February, Enrique Livan, Denise Babb-Cummings, and Michelle Miller.
Jabour recalled March 5, 2020, which he noted was supposed to be the tabulation day for Region Four at the Ashmin Building in Georgetown.

According to him, when he arrived there, there wasn’t much going on as he and other party agents were waiting in the common area of the building.
He recalled some commotion started as he saw Clairmont Mingo, standing above on the balcony of the first floor.
Jabour stated that while he was there at Ashmin building, he would not be able to say what, if any tabulation occurred.

However, at that point, he indicated that there was shouting and commotion that drowned out anything that he could have heard. At that time, he stated that people were shouting, “You’re a liar,” and “That’s incorrect,” among other things.

This, he said, occurred as Mingo was holding a piece of paper, and he saw his mouth moving and did not hear exactly what he was saying.
Subsequent to this, he noted that Mingo left, and he was unsure which direction he went in.

According to Jabour, he, along with others, had discussions about not being able to hear or know what was being said by Mingo and were trying to seek clarity from GECOM Chair, Justice Ret’d Claudette Singh.

He told the court that, from his understanding, Singh was in the building, and he and others made an attempt to get to her in the building to seek clarity on what Mingo had said.
Jabour stated that they got to the second floor of the building and were then told they would not be able to go further; however, they made an attempt and were able to get past the officers there.

Upon arriving at the third floor, he noted there was a room which was adjoining another, and he then attempted to get in there, and they were again stopped by officers.
The witness said that after an altercation and some back-and-forth discussion, access to the secondary room was achieved. He entered the room briefly but was soon met by an increased police presence.

He noted that he was then asked to leave and was escorted back to the ground floor. The witness stated that he could not confirm how many people were in the room, apart from two persons, those being Singh and Myers.

About 30 minutes to an hour later, he recalled that he witnessed Claudette Singh leaving the building through the back entrance, accompanied, he believed, by a police escort.
Later, Jabour stated he was asked to go to the Sleep Inn Hotel for a press conference. On the way out, one of his party’s agents, Jonathan Yearwood, informed him that there were documents in the tabulation room at the Ashmin Building that were believed to be Statements of Poll (SOPs) for Region Four.

The witness said two of his party’s agents were asked to remain in the building while he attended the press conference.
He described those documents as being critical, saying they would have reflected what had occurred at the actual polling stations.
According to him, the information on the Statements of Poll would have been the same data tabulated at the stations. At that time, he added, there was confusion over whether the numbers GECOM had were consistent with those recorded by party observers.

Subsequently, while at the press conference, he indicated that he was informed that the police had removed everyone who remained at the Ashmin building.
Jabour was subsequently cross-examined with his testimony, and further cross-examination was deferred to a later date.