THE election fraud trial involving several former elections officials and political figures was on Wednesday adjourned until September after the prosecution indicated that its scheduled witness was unable to testify due to an emergency.
When the matter was called before Acting Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty, prosecutor Darshan Ramdhani informed the court that the witness expected to take the stand had encountered an emergency and was, as such, unavailable to provide evidence.
Ramdhani requested an adjournment, explaining that no other witnesses were available to testify in the matter.
With the court also taking into consideration other circumstances, the proceedings were subsequently adjourned to September.
This comes after the matter had already been adjourned earlier this week, on Monday following issues surrounding the testimony of former Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Information Technology Head, Aneal Giddings.
Giddings, who served as GECOM’s IT Head during the period of the 2020 General and Regional Elections, had been scheduled to testify for the prosecution. However, he was expected to provide evidence virtually as he was reportedly outside of the jurisdiction.
Counsel for the defence, Nigel Hughes, objected to the arrangement, arguing that Giddings’ testimony formed a critical aspect of the prosecution’s case and that his appearance in court was necessary.
According to Hughes, given the significance of the witness, Giddings should be physically present to provide evidence and be available for cross-examination in person.
Following discussions on the issue, attempts were made to identify alternative witnesses to proceed with the trial, but none were immediately available, resulting in a further delay.
The trial centres on allegations of fraud linked to the tabulation and declaration of results from the 2020 General and Regional Elections, a process that triggered months of political uncertainty before a final declaration was made five months after polling day.
Among those on trial are former Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield, former Deputy Chief Elections Officer Roxanne Myers, former Region Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo, former Health Minister Volda Lawrence and People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) member Carol Smith-Joseph.
Also charged are former GECOM employees Michelle Miller, Sheffern February, Enrique Livan and Denise Babb-Cummings.
The nine defendants collectively face 19 charges, including conspiracy to defraud and misconduct in public office. All have pleaded not guilty and remain on bail.
The prosecution alleges that the accused participated in efforts to inflate votes in favour of the then A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) coalition while reducing votes cast for the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).
