Donald Rodney to mount vigil for date of hearing to be set by Appeal Court
Donald Rodney, the brother of slain WPA Leader Dr Walter Rodney, will mount a vigil from today outside of the Guyana Court of Appeal for a date of the hearing of his appeal against his 1982 conviction for the possession of explosives.
That conviction which stemmed from the death of his brother in the June 13, 1980 explosion, had always being challenged as trumped up to fit the narrative of the day for the death of Dr Rodney.
In a statement yesterday, Rodney said that today he will be mounting a vigil outside of the Court of Appeal building, High Street, Kingston, as action for a date to be fixed for his appeal in the Court of Appeal to proceed, and calling for a thorough probe into the previous, unlawful High Court hearing which purported to dismiss his appeal to the 1982 conviction. He said that the vigil will be held one day per week in the first instance.
In connection with the matter, he is also launching an ‘I am Walter Rodney” petition to be signed and submitted to the Court of Appeal Registry and the Chancellor.
Rodney pointed out that on May 23, 2019 the Court of Appeal ordered that his appeal against the 1982 conviction for possession of explosives be allowed to proceed but that up to now a date has not been set for this. The latest position of the Court Registry, upon his enquiry, is that it is “not satisfied” with trial records in its possession, Rodney disclosed.
He said that on October 14, 2019 he was promised that the
Registry would “contact” him that day, or the following.
“To date, over a month later, there has been no such contact despite a letter to the senior registry officer pointing this out, and requesting a date to be set. This was the second letter to the Registry, as follow-up to previous visits, asking for a hearing date”, Rodney lamented.
He noted that on May 23, 2019 the Appeal Court had also ordered that the High Court appeal hearing purporting to dismiss his appeal against the 1982 conviction was unlawful for lack of jurisdiction.
“This is serious since in addition to that unlawfulness, neither I nor a representing attorney-atlaw were notified beforehand or present at the hearing. Yet two senior judges, in the presence of the prosecution staged, effectively, a secret hearing and dismissal of my appeal. Last year I had previously written the Supreme Court Registrar, Ms Sueanna Lovell, requesting the name(s) of those purporting to file my appeal, but without response. Thus no explanation has ever been offered by the court or the office of the DPP for this unlawful episode. This exposes a grave flaw in the judicial system of Guyana”, Rodney declared.
He said it was light of these events that he was mounting the vigil.