Breaking: DPP writes Chancellor seeking removal of Magistrate Daly from Sgt. Bascom’s case

Director of Public Prosecutions Shalimar Ali-Hack, SC, has written to acting Chancellor of the Judiciary Yonette Cummings-Edwards, seeking the removal of Magistrate Leron Daly from presiding over the charges against Detective Sergeant Dion Bascom.

Bascom was charged on September 14, 2022 with the offense of “using a computer system to humiliate a person contrary to Section 19(5) of the Cybercrime Act 2018.” The offense was allegedly committed on August 13 and August 19, 2022.

On Wednesday attorney-at-law Mandel Moore, who is the legal advisor to the Guyana Police Force and assigned Prosecutor of the case, failed to produce the recording of the August 18, 2022 Police’s press conference.

Having failed to produce the recording on Tuesday, the magistrate adjourned the case for Wednesday, having instructed the prosecutor to disclose the evidence. The prosecutor was given two opportunities on Wednesday to do so but failed to comply. He informed the magistrate the Force said they do not have an original recording. The magistrate countered, noting the recording is in the public domain and easily accessible.

Exercising her power under Section 64 of the Act  the magistrate remanded (briefly) the prosecutor. The magistrate case was adjourned for today. The prosecutor was ordered to disclose the evidence in court today.

However, in a letter seen by Village Voice, the DPP has protested against Daly continuing the case. Ali-Hack in her letter to Cummings-Edwards said “I invite Your Honour to consider exercising the power…by Section 12 of the Summary Jurisdiction (Magistrates) Act and assign the matter to another Magistrate to adjudicate on the matter.”

The DPP, in accepting the claim made by the Guyana Police Force pointed out “that they [the Force] did not do a recording and does not have an authentic copy of the press conference in their possession and it is impossible” for Moore “to comply with the order of the magistrate.” Ali-Hack said, “further, but fundamentally, the recording is not part of the prosecution’s” evidence , “or is it being relied upon by the prosecution, nor is it relevant to the charge.”

The complainants in the case against Bascom are Superintendent Mitchell Caesar, Superintendent Chabinauth Singh, and Inspector Richard Frank.

Bascom has been the subject of attention since releasing an explosive social media post alleging senior officers in the Force were engaged in unprofessionalism. In the post, Bascom implicated Superintendent Mitchell Caesar in a cover up with a city businessman, Nazruddin Mohamed, and security guard, Mark Richmond, in the killing of Ricardo Fagundes aka ‘Paper shorts’ on March 21, 2021. They have all denied the allegations. Mohamed has since filed a multimillion dollar defamation lawsuit against Bascom.

Fagundes was killed in a hail of bullets in front of Palm Court nightclub, Georgetown. The Force has distanced itself from Bascom’s allegations, calling them untrue and malicious, and said  international support has been enlisted to solve the killing.