The presumption of innocence is a key principle in law. It probably dated back to the days when jurists adhered to the principle that it was better to let 100 guilty people go free than to hang one innocent person. In countries where the rights of a person are considered of extreme importance one readily sees the presumption of innocence featuring prominently.
In Guyana, this presumption is applied selectively. Some innocent people are locked away without a trial. Some languish in prison for years, eventually being set free either at a trial or because the person had spent an inordinately long time in prison without a trial and therefore had to be set free. Guyana is not unique in this regard.
Nearly every Guyanese has a relative living in the United States. In fact, talk to any Guyanese and one would hear something about the States. But even in that country, there are cases where the presumption of innocence is ignored.
According to news reports, Black people are more likely to suffer in this regard. Some are killed. But Guyana is not the United States where anyone who is non-white is considered black. Guyana is the country that has given a new meaning to the term ‘One’. In Guyana, ‘One’ merely refers to people who are affiliated to the ruling party. And this is the reason for the failure of the government and the opposition to reach common ground on anything.
Generally, when an ordinary person is suspected of committing a crime in Guyana, the police would detain him, often for the mandatory 72 hours. In that time, if the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions is needed, it is procured in a hurry. There have been cases where the charges were laid even before the DPP could have offered any advice.
The girl accused of setting fire to the Mahdia school dormitory should have been presumed innocent until convicted in a court of law. In the twinkling of an eye the child was detained and incarcerated. The advice from the DPP came almost instantaneously.
A number of people who were involved in the 2020 elections were similarly incarcerated. The principle of natural justice did not apply. They were made to post substantial bail before they could subsequently be released but only after spending the mandatory 72 hours in a cell.
As fate would have it, more than two years have elapsed, and they are not having their day in court. These things come readily to mind when one considers that the DPP is still pondering the evidence presented to her in the Nigel Dharamlall matter. And if he is charged, and there are people who doubt that he would be, then it could be years before the matter is called in a court of law.
It is not difficult to imagine that people calling for a speedy prosecution would be directed to the matter of Keith Lowenfield, Clairmont Mingo, Roxanne Myers, Trevor Benn and so many others.
Meanwhile Dharamlall remains on what he calls administrative leave, the kind of leave reserved for public servants. That means he will be paid and be entitled to all his benefits because he is to be presumed innocent until found guilty. One thing that has come out of the Dharamlall saga is that all attention seems to have shifted from the Mahdia dormitory fire that claimed 20 lives.
The Minister of Amerindian Affairs who must have been out of the country because no one heard her comment on the allegation, has surfaced. She was in some indigenous communities with sacks of rice and other foods. She is probably telling the people that they should not be distracted by some other reports reaching their ears. Yet many people want to be distracted.
There is the outstanding report on the dormitory fire. That has not been released. There has been no report of the agencies that should be held responsible for the fire. There were other reports before the fire, but these too have not been made public. This situation brings back memories of the oil contract that was supposed to be hidden. However, David Granger released it and caused a firestorm that continues to this day.
Has school restarted in Mahdia? The government is silent. So too are the reports from the regional administration.
Reporters have not gone into Mahdia since the fire. It would be interesting to learn how the fire has affected the community. It would also be interesting to know how the survivors are responding to whatever psychiatric help that is being provided.
But the Nigel Dharamlall episode seems to have skewed interest from other important things. The picketing continues. On Tuesday, the picketing exercise reached the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. And the DPP did not take kindly to it.
Unlike those others who attracted protests over the Nigel Dharamlall saga, the DPP issued a statement. Without trying to identify whether her office attracted members of civil society as the other protests did, she concluded that the protesters were members of the opposition. She then said that the protesters wanted to intimidate her. And as if to explain the delay in handing down a decision on the Nigel Dharamlall file, she said that the file is just one of thousands sent by the police. Those in custody receive priority, she said.
That may explain why Dharamlall was not locked up and why the file on the girl charged with the Mahdia dormitory fire was processed so quickly. But being a matter of public interest and of public importance one would have expected the file to be given priority treatment. There is a traumatized victim. She wants this over and done with. At the same time, others are now coming forward. Strange, there is no move to investigate the new allegations.
