A magistrate on Monday rejected an attempt to halt murder proceedings against three crew members charged in connection with the July 18 sinking of the MV Barima, clearing the way for the case to proceed as questions persist over the circumstances surrounding the disaster that claimed 73 lives.
Magistrate Ravindra Mohabir dismissed the defence’s application to stay the proceedings, ruling that continuing the criminal case while a government-appointed Commission of Inquiry (CoI) investigates the tragedy does not constitute an abuse of the court’s process.
In delivering his decision, Mohabir stated:
“I say, therefore, and this is my ruling, that it is not an abuse of process to have these proceedings conducted in this court.”
The ruling removes an immediate legal obstacle to the prosecution but does not determine whether the accused are guilty of murder or resolve the broader questions surrounding the ferry’s sinking.
Attorney-at-law Dr Dexter Todd, representing Captain Kevin Price and goods superintendent Delon Granderson, argued that the authorities failed to follow investigative procedures prescribed under Guyana’s Shipping Act before pursuing criminal charges.
The defence contended that maritime incidents are subject to specialised investigative procedures and that the circumstances warranted a stay of the criminal proceedings.
However, Senior Police Legal Adviser Mandel Moore, representing the prosecution, maintained that the Shipping Act does not prevent the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) from instituting murder charges.
The prosecution argued that the DPP’s constitutional authority permits the case to proceed and that the magistrate’s task was to determine whether the evidence justified committing the accused to stand trial in the High Court.
The three accused are Price, 40, the vessel’s captain; Rondell Dwayne Roberts, 42, its chief mate; and Granderson, 33, a goods superintendent with the Transport and Harbours Department.
Police allege that the men murdered passengers aboard the 87-year-old ferry when it capsized approximately nine nautical miles off Devonshire Castle on the Essequibo Coast.
The disaster claimed 73 lives, while 76 people survived and approximately 30 remained unaccounted for in published reports. The vessel was reportedly carrying 179 people, including 18 crew members.
The scale of the tragedy has intensified scrutiny of maritime safety, regulatory oversight and the circumstances surrounding the vessel’s final voyage.
The paper committal process is scheduled to begin on November 16 at the Charity Magistrate’s Court. Defence submissions are expected on November 23, followed by the prosecution’s response on December 7.
Mohabir is scheduled to rule on December 14 on whether the evidence is sufficient to commit the accused to stand trial in the High Court or whether they should be discharged.
Monday’s decision was procedural, not a finding of guilt. The prosecution must still establish its case against each accused through the judicial process
