DPP’s request to relieve magistrate of Bascom trial is threat to justice - Forde

Shadow Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Roysdale Forde has said the recent intervention by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) to have Detective Sergeant Dion Bascom’s trial reassigned threatens his constitutional right to a fair trial and should not be entertained.

“…All law-abiding Guyanese must be concerned at this new ugly development that puts at risk a basic constitutional right to a fair trial in a Court of Law in this beloved country of ours…. The Director of Public Prosecution’s intervention in this matter should not be allowed to stand and voices of truth and conscience, in our society have a duty to speak out against it,” Forde said in a statement on Friday.

He described DPP Shalimar Ali-Hack’s action as a “severe” blow to the country’s judicial system, while noting that it raises “serious and fundamental” questions which may indicate that she is trying to influence the trial.

“How is it possible for the Director of Public Prosecutions to have contemplated and expressed a request, in writing, to the Chancellor of the Judiciary to have the matter, which involves Dion Bascom reassigned? This action, by the Director of Public Prosecutions, gives rise to a serious and fundamental question: why?” Forde said.

“A possible answer could be that the DPP is seeking to influence the trial in a particular way. Whatever the answer, the Director of Public Prosecution’s action has left justice and fairness in a desolate place. Yet, these are two fundamentals (justice and fairness) that are indispensable not only to the integrity of the law but also to democracy and a good governance of our society,” he said.

In a letter dated September 29th, 2022, Ali-Hack wrote to the acting Chancellor of the Judiciary Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards seeking to have Bascom’s trial reassigned.

The letter was presented to the court on Thursday morning when the matter was called.

In the letter, which was seen by Stabroek News, the DPP said while she notes that the presiding Magistrate Leron Daly does not seem to have a personal interest in the matter, the case should be reassigned to another magistrate.

“…I respectfully invited Your Honour to consider exercising the power invested in Your Honour by section 12 of the Summary Jurisdiction (Magistrates) Act, Chapter 3:05 to assign the matter to another magistrate to adjudicate on the matter,” Ali-Hack states in the letter, dated September 28, 2022.

Section 12 states: “The Chancellor may direct that a particular magistrate shall not adjudicate on a particular cause or matter coming before him because of the magistrate’s personal interest in that cause or matter or for any other sufficient reason and shall in any such case assign another magistrate to adjudicate on that cause or matter.”

In her letter, Ali-Hack states, “I recognise that the magistrate does not appear to have a personal interest in the matter, however, the conduct of the magistrate thus far, in my respectful view, constitutes sufficient reason for the exercise of Your Honour’s statutory power. Should the magistrate continue to adjudicate in this matter, there is every likelihood that the case will not be afforded a fair hearing. This may not only be a miscarriage of justice but will inevitably lead to legal proceedings in the High Court.”

Failed

Thursday’s hearing was set for Police Legal Advisor Mandel Moore to submit promised evidence in the cybercrime proceedings against Bascom, after he failed to do so on several occasions.

During a disclosure hearing before the magistrate on Wednesday, Bascom and his attorney, Nigel Hughes, were expecting the video of a GPF press conference with statements made about Bascom by acting Commissioner Clifton Hicken and Crime Chief Wendell Blanhum to be handed over. Magistrate Daly had requested that the video be disclosed to the court on several occasions and was promised by Moore that it would be. However, when he could not produce the video to the court when the matter was recalled, the magistrate made the decision to have him taken into custody and he was later escorted to prisoners’ holding area.

However, moments after, Magistrate Daly summoned Moore to the court, where she asked him once more to present the video.

Moore said that he would be in possession of the video on Friday and the magistrate ordered that he do so at 11:00 hrs. He gave an undertaking to do so and was then released.

Hughes has also questioned the DPP’s move to have the trial reassigned, saying that it is “misconceived” and that Ali-Hack has completely “misconstrued” the hierarchy of the courts.

In light of the circumstances, Hughes said he is unsure whether his client will be able to have a fair trial.

“… I have never seen this in my 34 years of practice… That is the greatest threat to the liberty of this citizen… Then Mr Bascom has no fair trial to get because the implication of that is, if you transfer this to another court, the court will not follow the decision you gave,” Hughes said on Thursday, before suggesting that the magistracy is under threat.

He informed the court that he will be challenging the DPP’s request by filing a constitutional motion in the High Court.