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– Attorney Nigel Hughes says charge filed with inadequate evidence
Former Minister of Public Health and Chairperson of the People’s National Congress/Reform (PNC/R), Volda Lawrence was released on $100,000 bail on Monday following her appearance in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court to answer to a private criminal charge of alleged forgery.
Speaking to the media outside the Court, one of Lawrence’s lawyers, Nigel Hughes notified the media that Attorney-at-Law, Glenn Hanoman, representing Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr, who filed the criminal charge, had written to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) in request that she take over the criminal proceedings, to which she agreed.
Hughes said that it is clear that Hanoman had no evidence to bring against Lawrence and therefore is now relying on the DPP to salvage his case.
“This is most unusual because, in these circumstances, before the charge is even read to Ms. Lawrence, there clearly was an attempt by Mr. Hanoman to contact the DPP so that the DPP could then instruct the police to start an investigation. The assumption is that when you have filed the charge, you have already gathered enough evidence upon which you could have filed the charge,” he said.
Hughes said that the actions of Hanoman in the Court mirror his representation of People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Member, Desmond Morian, and The New Movement (TNM) Executive, Daniel Kanhai, in the private criminal charges brought against Chief Elections Officer (CEO), Keith Lowenfield.
At the said case, initially heard on July 24, Hughes and Senior Counsel, Neil Boston accused Hanoman of being ill-prepared having asked the Court for more time to gather some 800 statements from various witnesses which he needed to prove his case. The matter has since been taken over by the DPP.
“What has now happened, is that the Director of Public Prosecutions has taken that file, clearly, realizing that they do not have enough evidence, and is now decided that she can instruct that an investigation be conducted. So, we have a lot of rather unusual developments in both of these cases,” he said.
Meanwhile, in comments to the media, Lawrence maintained that the charge against her is “trumped up” and merely the ‘witch-hunting’ efforts of the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).
“I know, personally, that I have committed no crime. I have done absolutely nothing of what I’m accused of,” she said. “I just believe that this is a continuation of the circus that we will see under this regime and we have to brace ourselves.”
The criminal charge filed against the former Minister contends that Region Four Returning Officer (RO), Clairmont Mingo and Lawrence uttered a forged document with the intent to defraud the public, contrary to section 278 of the criminal law Offences Act Chapter 8:01.
However, Lawrence says that the 2020 General and Regional Elections is not her first exposure to elections in Guyana and she is well-aware that she is in right standing with the Law.
Hughes had also noted that the charge in question was not served against Lawrence who voluntarily appeared at the Court today after she heard, by way of him, that her name was being called in the matter.
He said that Lawrence was placed on $100,000 bail because she voluntarily came to Court and remains in good standing with the Law. The case will be called again on September 11, 2020.
While Mingo, the second defendant in the case, was also expected to appear at Court on the matter today, Hanoman informed the media that the RO has not yet been served. He promised, however: “We haven’t been able to find him yet, but we’ll find him sooner or later.”
