Businessmen sue GRA for wrongful arrest

-after being held for supplying smuggled chicken to army

Two East Coast Demerara businessmen have together filed an $8 million lawsuit against the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), whose customs officers they say wrongfully arrested and detained them on accusations of smuggling raw chicken into the country for sale to the Guyana Defence Force (GDF).

The action was brought by Fazaad Hameed and Gavin Boodwah (the claimants), against the GRA and its customs officers Kenny Mars, Clinton Bishpang, Ravi Mohabir, Omadat Persaud, and Brian Williams as well as the Attorney General.

In addition to the more than $8 million being sought in damages, the claimants are also hoping that the court will grant declarations for what they contend was not only their wrongful arrest and detention by the GRA’s customs officers, but their subsequent detention at the Vigilance Police Station as well.

Their position is that the actions of both the customs and police officers, whom they say failed to inform them of the reason they were being arrested and detained, violated their constitutional right to personal liberty.

Hameed and Boodwah are also hoping that the court would declare that the defendants’ “failure and/or refusal” to afford them a fair hearing and to treat them as innocent until proven guilty also violated their constitutional rights.

Finally, they want declarations that by arresting, detaining and imposing fines upon them, the defendants acted as “judge, jury and executioner,” contrary to the rules of natural justice and in contravention of their constitutional rights.

Against this background, Hameed and Boodwah are seeking damages in excess of $4 million each for, among other things, breach of rights and “wrongful arrest and false imprisonment.”

They want their respective sums to be paid with interest, in addition to court costs and the granting of any fur ther relief which the court may deem just.

In their statement of claim, the claimants said that on May 25th, the customs officers “wrongfully and withted out lawful justification” arrest them.

They said when they enquired from Mars, Bishpang and Mohabir, who effected the arrests, as to the reason they were being taken into custody, the offiacting cers told them that they were on the instructions of Persaud, who was in turn acting on instructions from the Commissioner-General of the GRA.

The claimants surmised that Mars, Bishpang and Mohabir would therefore have been merely acting, or purporting to act, under the direction and control of Persaud and the GRA.

Following their arrest, the men said, they were then taken to the Vigilance Police Station, where they were detained.

According to court documents seen by this newspaper, Hameed related ask ing police there for a phone call to a reley ative, who contacted attorney Kevon Bess. The lawyer, he said, then contact ed counsel for the Revenue Authority, Jason Moore, who was asked by Bess, the reason behind the detention.

Both Hameed and Boodwah are adamant that no reason was given for their arrest, nor was any charge laid against them. They said they were released later that day on $50,000 bail on condition that they visit GRA’s Camp Street head office three days later.

The claimants are arguing that their nine-hour detention at the police station was without cause, reason or justificas tion, and that the defendants acted in breach of the constitution. They are of the view that the customs officers had no reasonable grounds for believing that it was necessary to arrest them, nor did