June 30, 2007
Three years jail, $10,000 fine for drug trafficking
Robin Leon (no address given) was sentenced to three years in jail and fined $10,000, by Magistrate Gordon Gilhuys yesterday, on conviction for a drug offence.
The prisoner pleaded guilty to trafficking in 20 grammes of cannabis (marijuana) on Wednesday, in South Road, Georgetown. (Guyana Cronicle)
Razac murder case… Accused widow files constitutional motion over autopsy
Beauty queen Carol Ann Lynch, accused of the murder of her Swiss House cambio boss husband Farouk Razac, has moved to the High Court, challenging decisions, made at the preliminary inquiry (PI) into the charge, surrounding the post mortem examination performed on the deceased.
Her consitutional motion, filed by attorneys-at-law Mr. Nigel Hughes and Mr. Mark Waldron, comes up for hearing on July 9. Acting Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Shalimar Ali-Hack, Magistrate Gordon Gilhuys, who is presiding over the pre-trial hearing and Special Prosecutor Hukumchand are named as respondents in the action.
Lynch is seeking a declaration that the refusal of the DPP and the Prosecution to permit her and medical experts of her choice to exhume the body of Razac, for the purpose of conducting an independent autopsy on it, is a breach of her fundamental right to a fair hearing, as guaranteed in Article 144 of the Constitution.
The widow is also asking for orders directing:
* the DPP to provide the Defence with a copy of the report on the autopsy performed on the victim;
* the DPP to disclose whether samples were taken from the body of Razac, the nature of the samples and the name of the institution to which they were submitted;
* that medical experts of her choice get access to the samples to take parts from any or all of them;
* that medical experts of her choice be allowed to exhume the remains of Razac and conduct another post mortem examination on it.
The applicant, 33, charged with the May 7 unlawful killing, at their Lot 106 Ireng Place, Bel Air Park, Georgetown home, has been on remand in prison since she first appeared in the Magistrate’s Court.
But issues related to the first autopsy have dominated the pre-trial proceedings from the inception. Razac was found dead in their house while he and Lynch were facing trial on joint charges of unlawful possession of a gun and ammunition as a result of Police raids on the premises last November.
As a consequence of his death, those charges have been withdrawn. Lynch won the Mrs. South America title abroad but was crowned here at a glitzy ceremony staged in Le Meridien Pegasus Hotel, also in the city. (Guyana Cronicle)
June 28, 2007
Berbice robbery gang suspects charged
GANG SUSPECTS: from left, Quincy Samuels, in a police vehicle; Nigel Henry, and Jermaine Samuels
Three men, including two brothers, suspected to be in the gang of four that staged a daring robbery at the remote agricultural village of Ma Retraite, on the East Bank Berbice over the weekend, appeared yesterday before Magistrate Chandra Sohan at the Albion Court on six joint charges.
Charged are Nigel Henry, called ‘Zip’, 36, of Lot 22 Asylum Street; Jermaine Samuels, alias German, and his brother Quesi, nicknamed ‘Big Worm’, both of Lot 30 Cummingsville , also in New Amsterdam.
Police claim the three on Monday last broke into the home of farmer Sandy Wilson and beat and robbed him and his family. They are also charged with attempting to murder Sandy Wilson during the attack. In addition, they are charged with having a Taurus revolver and ammunition without having the relevant licences.
Police Inspector Fazil Karimbaksh, prosecuting, opposed bail for the three on the grounds that police are investigating a series of armed robberies and the accused are likely to be further charged. He said that in addition to the prevalence of the offences, the articles stolen from the Wilsons have not been recovered.
Karimbaskh argued that if bail was allowed, the security of the state could be compromised and justice denied. The three were charged following intense police investigations in which they were positively identified by the robbery victims.
The Wilsons were robbed of $35,000 and a gold chain valued $10,000 when the gang attacked their home Saturday night. During the early hours of Sunday morning, the body of Michael Fraser was found in a drain with a single gunshot to the groin, at Gangoo Creek, Berbice, and was linked to another robbery by three armed bandits on Saturday night, at the home of a farmer at Mara, East Berbice.
Police said when Fraser, 26, was shot at, the men were attempting to rob another farmer some time after midnight. Soon after the discovery of the body, Police also arrested two other suspects, and the owner of a car presumed to be used in the robbery at the home of Sandy Wilson, 49, earlier on Saturday night.
Police reported that bandits with guns and a cutlass, around 22:50h, broke into the home of the farmer, discharged rounds, beat and terrorised family members, and tied up his nephew before making off with $35,000. The men fled in a waiting car and after being chased by police, slammed into an electric pole at Belle Vue, East Bank Berbice. They abandoned the car and escaped.
Police said that, on being attacked at his home, Wilson put up a spirited fight, but was no match for the men, two of whom had guns and another, a cutlass. He sustained several cuts to the head in the process, police said.
Police stated that Wilson, his daughter and nephew were asleep in the home, when they were awakened by the noise created as the men barefacedly broke the door down and entered the building.
After being overpowered by the bandits, Wilson was forced to hand over to them, the cash he had locked in a wardrobe. But they did not leave just then. The men proceeded to a locked room occupied by Wilson’s nephew, discharged a round, and then tied him up before exiting.
Police who were alerted chased after the men who were in a car with number plate HB 4301. They later found the car abandoned and damaged, after it had slammed into the electric pole. Around 06:00h Sunday, acting on information, they searched Gangoo Creek and found the body of Fraser. She could not say what had caused the fire but said it spread rapidly and she had to hurry out of the building. (Guyana Cronicle)
June 27, 2007
Man charged with son's murder asks court for psychiatrist
Clive Gall
A man accused of killing his only son five days ago, yesterday asked the magistrate for a psychiatrist as he said he was a patient. He was remanded to prison for the murder by Principal Magistrate Melissa Robertson-Ogle. Clive Gall, 48, of 72 R Guyhoc Gardens was not required to plead to the capital offence, when he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrate's Court.
It is alleged that on June 21 at Georgetown he murdered Clive Gall Jnr. It was reported that the elder Gall had complained about the volume of a television in the home being too high. He confronted the son about it and reportedly pulled a knife when he was ignored. A scuffle then ensued between the two resulting in the son being stabbed.
The son managed to wrest the knife from him but the father allegedly drew a cutlass and dealt him another blow to his abdomen. The son then broke through his bedroom window from the upper flat of the two-storey home to escape.
He collapsed on the road a short distance away with the father in pursuit. The attacker retreated after residents intervened. Clive Gall Jnr called `Percy', 30, died at the St Joseph Mercy Hospital. He had been stabbed three times in the abdomen and twice on his right arm. The elder Gall subsequently walked to the nearby police outpost and related what had happened.
Gall told the court "I'm a victim of an attack and it seems the victim always suffer, there is always a lot of mumbo jumbo."
He then said, "Your Honour, I don't know if you see in the file, I'm a patient and asking for a psychiatrist." He also stated that he worked at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation as an attendant in the theatre for four years. His matter was transferred to Court Six for July 10. (Stabroek News)
Cop remains under close arrest
The cop fingered in the disappearance of money recovered after the robbery of a Berbice rice farmer Monday, remained under close arrest yesterday as the Police Force conducted an internal probe, an official said.
The Guyana Chronicle was informed by a reliable source that a senior police officer from the Office of Professional Responsibilities in Georgetown was, within the last 48 hours, dispatched to Berbice to conduct internal investigations.
The money went missing after bandits attacked and robbed rice farmer, Premkarran Karran and others at his home on Lewis Manor Road, Number 19 Village, Corentyne, Berbice. Following the alleged disappearance of the money from a bag which one of the bandits who was shot dead had dropped, a police rank on the scene was placed under close arrest.
Relatives of the businessman said the bandit who was shot and killed, had grabbed a bag from the Karrans, in which they had Euros 300, US$1,200, and G$150,000, but dropped it after he was shot during a scuffle with the rice farmer. However, when cops arrived at the scene, a rank was allegedly seen removing the bag, taking it to a police vehicle parked outside. According to a witness, the bag was returned after it was emptied. The source said other cops were notified and the rank was later taken into custody.
The dead gang member was identified as Corbin Cort, called Quacy, of Fyrish Village, on the Corentyne. Investigators said he was shot in the left abdomen with the bullet exiting the right lower back. He tried to flee from the robbery scene but collapsed and died there. Cort was in the armed six-member gang that broke into the home of the farmer around 01:15h Monday while the family was asleep.
They demanded cash and jewellery, and fired several rounds in the house, during which Karran’s wife, Kaleshwarie Karran, was hit in her left upper back, police said. Mrs. Karran was said to be in stable condition in hospital. (Guyana Cronicle)
Three suspected gang members held
Three men, including two brothers, suspected to be members of the gang of four that staged a daring robbery at the remote agricultural village of Maratraite, on the East Bank Berbice, over the weekend, are due to appear in court today, an official said.
The three have been positively identified by their victims and are to be charged with robbery under arms committed on Sandy Wilson and his daughter Monique, the source said. The Wilsons were robbed of $35,000 and a gold chain valued $10,000 when the gang attacked their home Saturday night.
During the early hours of Sunday morning, the body of Michael Fraser was found in a drain with a single gunshot to the groin, at Gangoo Creek, Berbice, and was linked to a robbery by three armed bandits on Saturday night, at the home of a farmer at Mara, East Berbice. Police said when Fraser, 26, was shot at, the men were attempting to rob another farmer some time after midnight.
Soon after the discovery of the body, Police also arrested two other suspects, and the owner of a car presumed to be used in the robbery at the home of Sandy Wilson, 49, earlier on Saturday night.
Police reported that bandits with guns and a cutlass, around 22:50h, broke into the home of the farmer, discharged rounds, beat and terrorised family members, and tied up his nephew before making off with $35,000. The men fled in a waiting car and after being chased by police, slammed into an electric pole at Belle Vue, East Bank Berbice. They abandoned the car and escaped.
Police said that, on being attacked at his home, Wilson put up a spirited fight, but was no match for the men, two of whom had guns and another, a cutlass. He sustained several cuts to the head in the process, police said. Police stated that Wilson, his daughter and nephew were asleep in the home, when they were awakened by the noise created as the men barefacedly broke the door down and entered the building.
After being overpowered by the bandits, Wilson was forced to hand over to them, the cash he had locked in a wardrobe. But they did not leave just then. The men proceeded to a locked room occupied by Wilson’s nephew, discharged a round, and then tied him up before exiting.
Police who were alerted chased after the men who were in a car with number plate HB 4301. They later found the car abandoned and damaged, after it had slammed into the electric pole. Around 06:00h Sunday, acting on information, they searched Gangoo Creek and found the body of Fraser. (Guyana Cronicle)
June 26, 2007
Cop under arrest
GANG TARGET: the house attacked at Don Robin Farm.Another bandit in a gang on a raid in Berbice was shot and killed yesterday morning and police have arrested one of their own after money recovered at the robbery scene disappeared.
The dead gang member was identified as Corbin Cort, called Quacy, of Fyrish Village, on the Corentyne, Berbice. Investigators said he was shot in the left abdomen with the bullet exiting the right lower back. He tried to flee from the robbery scene but collapsed and died there. Cort was in an armed six-member gang that broke into the home of a rice farmer at Lewis Manor Road, Number 19 Village, Corentyne.
Police said that following the robbery in which a large amount of cash, as well as jewellery was carted off, a rank was placed under close arrest in connection with the disappearance of a sum of money allegedly recovered at the scene of the robbery. Police said that around 01:15h yesterday, the six men, armed with weapons, broke down a door and entered the home of 28-year old rice farmer Premkarran Karran of Don Robin Farm.
They demanded cash and jewellery, and fired several rounds in the house, during which Karran’s wife, Kaleshwarie Karran, was hit in her left upper back, police said. There was a scuffle between Premkarran Karran and one of the bandits during which a round was discharged, hitting the invader in the left side of his abdomen, police said. The rice farmer, upon checking his yard after the bandits had fled, found the man’s body.
According to the Police, Karran and his wife and other family members were in the house sleeping when they were aroused by the sound of gunshots and knocking on a door. Upon seeing the men, the frightened family members hid in two bedrooms while Premkarran’s brother, Arjune Karran, ran into some bushes and hid.
After the rampage, the bandits escaped from the house with an undisclosed amount of cash and jewellery, discharging rounds as they fled, police said. Relatives said the bandit who was shot, had grabbed a bag from the Karrans in which they had Euros 300, US$1,200, and G$150,000, and dropped it after he was shot.
However, when cops arrived on the scene, a rank was seen removing the bag, taking it to a police vehicle parked outside. According to a witness, the bag was returned after it was emptied. Other cops were notified and the rank was later taken into custody. Sources said a getaway car was awaiting the bandits and it sped towards New Amsterdam after the robbery attack.
Police ranks responding to the report, recovered a 9mm pistol with a magazine, two 12 gauge empty cartridges, nine .32 spent shells, one 9mm spent shell, one 9mm round and a cell phone at the scene. Kaleshwarie Karran was taken to the New Amsterdam Hospital where she was admitted and was in stable condition, officials said.
Manooj Kumar Singh
Manooj Kumar Singh, a relative of the Karrans, said that shortly after 01:00h, he was awakened by rapid gunshots and stomping on the door of his cousin’s house next door. He said that through a window, he saw about five persons kicking at the front door, and after about ten minutes, they got into the building.
Meanwhile, Police are working on the theory that the body of the man found in a drain with a single gunshot to the groin at Gangoo Creek, Berbice, around 06:00h Sunday, could be linked to a robbery by three armed bandits on Saturday night, at the home of a farmer at Mara, East Berbice.
Police said that when shot at, the men were attempting to rob another farmer some time after midnight. The body discovered was identified as that of Michael Fraser, 26, a ‘suspected’ clothes vendor of Nicolay Street, New Amsterdam, police said. Soon after the discovery, Police also arrested two other suspects, and the owner of a car presumed to be used in the robbery at the home of Sandy Wilson, 49, earlier on Saturday night.
Police reported that bandits with guns and a cutlass, around 22:50h, broke into the home of the farmer, discharged rounds, beat and terrorised family members, and tied up his nephew before making off with $35,000. The men fled in a waiting car and after being chased by police, slammed into an electric pole at Belle Vue, East Bank Berbice. They abandoned the car and escaped.
Police said that, on being attacked at his home, Wilson, put up a spirited fight, but was no match for the men, two of whom had guns and another, a cutlass. He sustained several cuts to the head in the process, police said.
Police stated that Wilson, his daughter and nephew were asleep in the home, when they were awakened by the noise created as the men barefacedly broke the door down and entered the building.
After being overpowered by the bandits, Wilson was forced to hand over to them, the cash he had locked in a wardrobe. But they did not leave just then. The men proceeded to a locked room occupied by Wilson’s nephew, discharged a round, then tied him up before exiting.
Police who were alerted chased after the suspects who were in a motorcar with number plate HB 4301. They later found the car abandoned and damaged, after it had slammed into the electric pole. Around 06:00h Sunday, acting on information, they searched Gangoo Creek and found the body of Fraser. (Guyana Cronicle)
June 25, 2007
Armed bandit killed during robbery attempt
The bandits crashed their car into an electricity pole after a failed attempt to rob an East Bank Berbice farmer on Saturday.
A bandit was shot dead at Gangoo Creek, East Bank Berbice (EBB) after he attempted to rob a farmer at around 11.20 pm on Saturday and his accomplices crashed their car into an electricity pole while fleeing from police. The driver of the vehicle and two other suspects have since been arrested.
Twenty-six-year-old Michael Fraser called 'Gamble' of Nicholay Street, New Amsterdam was shot in the groin during an exchange of gunshots between a resident and the bandits. Police discovered the body of Fraser, a clothes vendor, at 6 am in a drain with a gunshot injury to the groin after receiving a report. Ranks are not sure if the bullet that hit the man came from the resident or from his own accomplices.
After the resident challenged the bandits with his licensed shotgun they dragged the injured man out of the farmer's yard and attempted to flee with him. But they changed their minds and left him behind in a clump of bushes close to a drain.
They then ran through some thick bushes and headed towards the car that was parked a short distance away from the house, residents told Stabroek News. They said that as they were running they kept asking each other if they were ok. The bandits sped off in the direction of New Amsterdam.
Police found what appeared to be the leather handle of a shotgun yesterday.
Residents said the injured man was dressed in a white t-shirt, black jeans and a pair of sneakers and was covered with mud. They told this newspaper after his associates fled he was "groaning in pain and crying out for help." Residents assumed that he may have fallen into the drain.
Police were in the meantime responding to a call relating to a robbery that took place at 10.55 pm at the home of another farmer, Sandy Wilson at Ma Retraite, EBB about 12 miles away when they saw the speeding car and gave chase.
Residents in the area said the bandits turned off the car lights and continued driving. But they ended up crashing the AT 192 Toyota Carina motorcar that bore the number plates, HB 4359, into the electric pole at Belle Vue, EBB.
According to a police press release ranks combed the area for the bandits but they had already fled. The release said Wilson, 49, his daughter and a nephew were sleeping when he [Wilson] was aroused by a noise emanating from a door.
He came out of his bedroom and was confronted by the men who had broken down the door. He held on to one of the bandits who had a cutlass, and during the scuffle was cut several times on the head.
Wilson handed over $35, 000 that he had stashed away in a wardrobe. The bandits also relieved his daughter, Monique, of a gold chain valued at $8,000. The men then proceeded to his nephew's room, tied him up and fired a round. The robbers then discharged two more rounds as they ran towards the waiting car. Meantime the farmer of Gangoo Creek told this newspaper he saw the "strange" car passing at 10 pm but did not suspect that bandits were in it.
But he said he was on the alert since he was robbed about six months ago of $643,000, a chainsaw and a quantity of jewellery. During that robbery the bandits had entered his home with an "AK 47 and other weapons and beat me up and burst my head." He said he had applied for a firearm licence before that robbery but has not got through as yet.
He said when police visited the scene yesterday morning they recovered "an original face mask," torchlight, a screwdriver, sledgehammer and a cutlass. The leather handle of what appeared to be a shotgun was also found later.
In the meantime a resident from Vryheid Street, NA related that as the police attempted to arrest a suspect in the area she saw him running through the street "butt naked." She said he ran for cover in a woman's house and she [the woman] started to scream at the sight of the naked man. Police followed the man and nabbed him in the house, the woman related. (Shabna Ullah/Stabroek News)
Businessman killed in BerbiceA twenty six year old businessman was shot and killed yesterday morning following a robbery attack on a resident at Ma Retraite on the East Bank of Berbice.
Michael Fraser, alias ‘Gamble’, of Angoy’s Avenue and also of 28 Nicolay Street , New Amsterdam, Berbice, was found dead at Gangoo Creek, three miles north of Mara, an agricultural based area also on the East Bank . According to information, police on mobile patrol were returning to the area following a reported robbery when ranks stumbled on the body lying on the roadway.
Saturday night at about 23.30 h, cops from Central Police Station responding to a robbery at Ma Retraite, drove to the area which is 25 miles from the New Amsterdam Township. En route, at Belle View, they saw motor car HB 4359 speeding from the opposite direction. The car ran into a utility pole and the occupants of the vehicle got out and fled the scene, with ranks in pursuit.
The area was misty at the time, and the poor visibility caused the police to abandon the search. When they retured to the East Bank yesterday morning, they stumbled on Fraser’s body. The police transported the body to Pitt Street, New Amsterdam, where the deceased operated his business. Persons there identified the corpse and it was taken to the New Amsterdam mortuary.
The dead man’s mother, Winifred Toney, said she was at church when she heard the news. The distraught woman said despite premonitions that something would have gone wrong with her younger son, his death was unexpected. Toney admitted that the second of her three children had had minor brushes with the law, though he did not deserve such a cruel death.
Meanwhile , Melissa Fraser, sister of the deceased , said, she last saw her brother at 00:30h yesterday, when he walked her from the GT&T jingle at the New Amsterdam Multilateral School. The young woman said when she was a short distance from her home , he instructed another youth to escort her, before joining a taxi. He told her he was going to Galaxy, a night club in East Canje.
Meanwhile, police said Sandy Wilson and his daughter Monique were at Ma Retraite when they were robbed of $35,000 and a gold chain valued $10,000 by three armed men, at about 22:50h Saturday night. As the police continue their investigations , the driver of HB 4359, along with two others, is in custody , while the car is lodged at Central Police Station. (Guyana Cronicle)
June 23, 2007
Loor appears in court
Judge extends detention
PHILIPSBURG--Arrested Police Commissioner Marcel Loor was heard by a Judge in the Court of First Instance on Thursday, who determined that “all procedures regarding his arrest had been followed in accordance with the law.” As a result, a request filed on Wednesday by the Prosecutor’s Office for an eight-day extension of Loor’s pre-trial detention has been granted and has gone into effect.
Chief Prosecutor Taco Stein wants to have Loor transferred to Curaçao to be kept in a special section of Bon Futuro Prison, used primarily for detaining civil servants. However, reliable reports reaching The Daily Herald, said Loor’s lawyers were likely to file an injunction to block his being transferred to Curaçao.
Stein said Thursday, “If he is kept here on St. Maarten at the Police Cells or in Pointe Blanche, I can’t guarantee his safety, which is why I wish to send him to Curaçao.” Stein also said: “Loor has the right to challenge such a decision. I have already informed the Judge that I wish to send him to Curaçao.” Stein also said Loor’s attorney Richard Gibson Jr. would likely file a petition on Loor’s behalf against the planned transfer to Curaçao, but he was not certain if and when that matter would be handled.
He said such appeals usually relate to claims by the suspect that his family life would be interrupted and his visitation rights might be affected, as it could be costly for his family to travel to Curaçao to visit him. Loor, who has been charged with forgery and accepting bribes, was taken to the Court House in Philipsburg Thursday in keeping with what Stein said, was a routine exercise when persons are detained.
According to Stein, the Judge usually reviews all details of the arrest to ensure that the correct procedures had been followed. He explained that the Prosecutor’s Office had the right to issue the first warrant for Loor’s arrest and that generally such a warrant would last for two days.
When the two-day warrant expires, a second warrant has to be issued for an extension of pre-trial detention for a period of eight days. However, before the two-day detention period expires, the suspect must be taken before the Judge who has to verify that all procedures have been followed in respect of the arrest.
Once this has been done, the suspect then continues serving his eight-day pre-trial detention. Loor was arrested on Tuesday morning at his home in St. John’s Estate on suspicion of forgery and accepting bribes. (The Daily Herald St. Maarten)
VKSer says he was working for Loor’s security outfit
PHILIPSBURG - The local authorities are investigating reports that an officer of the Voluntary Corps St. Maarten VKS who was detained two Tuesdays ago for illegal possession of a firearm had been working for a security outfit linked to Police Commissioner Marcel Loor.
VKS Commander Major Jean Illidge confirmed on Wednesday that the VKS officer in question has been suspended pending the outcome of criminal charges for illegal possession of a firearm. Illidge said the officer had not been working on direct police orders or on orders of the VKS when he was found in the Pelican Key area in possession of the weapon and providing armed security services.
The VKS officer reportedly told his superior officers, the weapon in question had been given to him by his employer Loor.
Chief Prosecutor Taco Stein said Wednesday that the matter has not been formally brought to the attention of the Prosecutor’s Office for a decision and as such, he could not say much about the incident. He said the possession of an illegal weapon was a serious matter, but he needed clarity about the circumstances under which the VKS officer had come into possession of the gun.
He said the Prosecutor’s Office had to be certain that the weapon had not been given to the VKS officer by police for police-related work, or by the VKS. He also said that once the VKS commander decided the matter would not be dealt with internally, most likely it would be handed over to his office.
The VKS officer was detained June 12 and then released after police detectives had confiscated the gun. Shortly after that incident, Loor was stripped of his weapons and suspended. He was then detained on Tuesday morning by Federal Detectives who are continuing their probe into allegations of forgery and bribery made against him. (The Daily Herald)
June 22, 2007
Marcel Loor arrested on bribery, forgery charges
PHILIPSBURG--Police Commissioner Marcel Loor has been arrested on charges of forgery and acceptance of bribes. A nine-member team swooped down on Loor’s St. John’s Estate home shortly before 7:00am Tuesday and effected the arrest.
The team included two Kingdom Detective Cooperation RST detectives, two local police detectives, Marten Hemelaar a Public Prosecutor from Curaçao, two Federal detectives, the local Judge of Instruction and a court recorder.
Loor was escorted from his home wearing blue jeans, a white shirt and a pair of flip-flops and taken to a waiting unmarked police vehicle in which he was driven to an undisclosed office and subsequently to the Pointe Blanche Prison.
In confirming Loor’s arrest Tuesday, public prosecutor Taco Stein told The Daily Herald which had broken the news about the allegations and the investigation: “He [Police Commissioner Marcel Loor] was arrested on charges of forgery and bribery, in that he accepted bribes.”
Stein said a search had been conducted at the Commissioner’s St. John’s Estate home and that during that search a computer and documents were confiscated. And, according to reliable reports, Loor’s office at the Philipsburg police station was also searched and a computer and documents were also confiscated.
Stein said arrangements have already been made for Loor to be transferred to Curaçao if the pre-trial detention is extended beyond the first two days. Regarding the specifics of the allegations of forgery and accepting bribes, Stein declined to comment on whether the commissioner had used his former office as Chief Immigration Officer to provide false residence and landing documents.
However, this newspaper understands that one aspect of the investigations is linked to allegations that Loor had access to an outdated immigration computer system which was used to produce false documents, often giving Chinese nationals the identity of Latinos whose documents had already been processed years ago.
Stein told The Daily Herald, “It is safe to say that the charges of forgery and accepting bribes resulted from more than one incident.” He did not say how many and over what period.
Loor was Chief Immigration Officer from around 2001, when he joined the police force, until 2006, when he was removed from that office and appointed Head of the Uniformed Division. Over the last five years he has been one of the most visible and most talked about members of the force, having been at the forefront of several controversies.
His transfer came at a time when there were murmurs within and outside the force about alleged wrongdoings on his part.
About two weeks ago, when Trinidad-born G.Y. a St. Maarten resident and businessman was arrested, he gave statements implicating the police commissioner in a Human Trafficking operation in which Chinese nationals were brought to the island, allegedly with documents provided by an unnamed and presumably well- known legal advisor, and signed by Loor.
Suspicions grew when one such document reportedly signed by Loor and dated sometime after he had been removed as Chief Immigration Officer landed on the desk of the new Chief Immigration Officer.
As the investigations picked up momentum Loor was advised to take a vacation but later, in view of certain allegations that were made when a Voluntary Corps VKS officer was found standing guard at the house of a casino owner with an illegal gun in his possession Loor was placed on suspension and his weapons were taken away.
Meanwhile, following reports about Loor’s arrest Tuesday, reports circulated that another major public figure had been detained in connection with the same investigation but Stein said “no other arrests have been made.” He said there was no indication that more related arrests were to follow and that, for the moment, investigators would be concentrating primarily on Loor.
Also, up to last night there had been no comment from Police Chief Commissioner Derrick Holiday on the arrest of one of his top-ranking officers and several of his subordinates who did not wish to be identified and who have expressed concerns about the effect of the latest developments on the morale of the force, have also expressed dismay about the top cop’s silence. (The Daily Herald St. Maarten)
June 20, 2007
Death blow for boy defending father
Dhaneshwar Sookdeo
A 16-year-old boy of Williamsburg, Corentyne died after he attempted to defend his father who was being attacked by a neighbour around 8 pm on Sunday. The lad, Dhaneshwar Sookdeo, a labourer at a gas station ran out and tried to push the attacker away from his father but the man hit him twice on his head and across his shoulder with a piece of wood.
He was rushed to the New Amsterdam Hospital and died early yesterday morning. His father, Ravindra Persaud, 42, told Stabroek News that the incident stemmed from him trying to make peace between the attacker and a member of his [the attacker's] household.
He said he was returning home from the shop and he heard the 27-year-old man quarrelling with a female living in the house and since he knew him well he tried to tell him to stop.
Persaud's interference must have angered the man and he pushed him off his bicycle. As he tried to get up he pushed him down again. As Persaud got to his feet again he ran into his yard but the man followed him.
Ravindra Persaud and Rajdai
"He pulled out a paling stave from me fence and hit me with it behind me neck," Persaud said. "He drag me out me yard and hit me on meh foot. After that he throw me in the drain [face down], and bubble me head in the water three times."
He said by then Dhaneshwar who had witnessed everything rushed to his rescue. "Me son come and push the man away and tell he 'leave daddy alone.'"
The attacker who had gripped Persaud around the waist let loose and turned his attention to the lad. He picked up another piece of wood from the ground and dealt Dhaneshwar the blows. The boy then fell to the ground and by the time Persaud made it out of the drain and asked for the attacker he had already disappeared.
Persaud told this newspaper that a neighbour had telephoned for the police while all this was taking place. The police arrived shortly after and picked up the assailant who was hiding in a resident's yard nearby. Dhaneshwar's mother, Rajdai, 42, said she stood by her gate watching the incident but was afraid to go close since the man "was behaving as if he smoke dope."
"We rush me son to the hospital and the doctor just stitched he head and send he home. The nurses tell the doctor to admit he and give him saline but she said he was ok. She tell me she tired and must bring he back on Monday. "
According to her, at 6:30 am on Monday she left for the hospital with the boy since he was vomiting and was unable to eat anything. He was admitted on Monday and the woman said when she visited him at 4 pm he looked "white" [pale]. He told her he was hungry but the nurses advised her not to give him anything to eat.
She told this newspaper she left to go to the hospital yesterday morning with the intention of moving him to the Georgetown Public Hospital. But before she got to the ward she was greeted with the news of his death. In tears, the mother lamented that her son was very "quiet and good. Me na had a problem wid he. As soon as he me want something he would run and buy it for me."
Meanwhile the attacker was residing at the home of Farz Khan, his former mother-in-law. She said her daughter and the man were married in 2001 and were separated three months later. Her daughter remarried and moved on to America but her former son-in-law continued living with her.
"He was good to me and me husband. Me husband was sick with stroke for 14 years and this boy [her son-in-law] used to help to look after him," she said. Khan said she lost her husband two weeks ago and her mother one week before that "and now me have to deal with all these problems." (Shabna Ullah/Stabroek News)
June 18, 2007
Suriname court rejects motions on 1982 mass killings
Surinam's former dictator Desi Bouterse.
PARAMARIBO, Suriname: A court in Surname has handed down a ruling ordering the prosecution of ten suspects who were fighting a legal battle to be taken off the list of suspects in relation to the extrajudicial killing of 15 government critics in December 1982. Twenty-five suspects, including former army commander and government leader Desi Bouterse, will go on trial later this year.
The ruling, which ended 25 years of uncertainty as to whether the suspects in the brutal murders would be brought to justice, was met with mixed emotions in Suriname. Surviving relatives and human rights activists were relieved while supporters of Bouterse’s NDP party cited political motives for the ruling.
Bouterse, who is the main suspect in this case, in his first response after receiving the ruling, said,“I don’t keep myself occupied with this issue; I have better things to do, like trying to find solutions for the problems of the people of this country,” a day after the ‘de Ware Tijd’ newspaper was the first to report on the case.
Although several of his close advisors said the ruling to them was no surprise since, according to them, “this was a politically motivated case,” his lawyer Irvin Kanhai said he was stunned. “I never expected this, since based on the evidence in the court documents, you could never arrive at the conclusion that my client has participated in the alleged crime,” the jurist told Radio-10.
However, when interviewed at party headquarters by reporters, Bouterse, seemingly relaxed, noted that since the legal affairs are being handled by his lawyer he is not occupying himself with the case. On several occasions, he had stated earlier that he will never set foot in court when this case starts.
Asked whether he would show up in court now since his motions were rejected, he somewhat abandoned his earlier position. “It depends on the circumstances and the information I will have by that time. But don’t you worry, time will tell,” he told the media. He reiterated, however, that “no drug criminal” would put him away, referring to top judicial officials here.
Sunil Oemrawsing, nephew of the murdered Sugrim Oemrawsing, said that the surviving relatives of the victims are not rejoicing over the ruling. “We are only relieved that finally justice will be served after 25 years of waiting."
He argued, however, that not only for the families of the victims but also for the entire nation a new chapter has started and difficult times are ahead when the trial commences.
Human rights group, Organization for Justice and Peace (OGV), is not supporting calls in society to grant amnesty for the killings. “We are not supporting amnesty, we have always maintained that justice should prevail and the perpetrators of the gruesome murders should stand trial and account for their crimes,” said OGV president Betty Goede.
Former minister of Justice, and police and army Chief of Staff, Ivan Graanoogst was the only suspect whose motions were granted by the court and acquitted. An emotional Graanoogst cried for hours after receiving news that he is no longer being prosecuted, his lawyer Jennifer Dijk-Silos told reporters.
“After reading the court documents, I was convinced of his innocence; that’s why his is the only case I have accepted,” said the lawyer.
She is now preparing a lawsuit against the state for financial and emotional damage inflicted on her client during the almost 8 years he was put on the suspects list.
Graanoogst, now a businessman, lost orders because he was on this list, while his wife who was seeking a career as a prosecuting attorney, was barred from study because her husband was suspected of murder.
Among the victims from the brutal killings, were four journalists, businessmen, university lecturers, lawyers, army officers and union leaders. It is expected that the trial will start in the second half of 2007. (Ivan Cairo, Caribbean Net News Suriname Correspondent/AFP photo)
Masked gunman attacks Cuban doctor
Dr. Paulat being treated by Dr. Daniel Yanez.
Dr. Mariela Poulot, 44, was asleep when she was awakened by unusual sounds in the apartment which she shares with a colleague. The medical consultant said that on investigating she came upon the masked intruder who had broken into her bedroom. He attacked her and pointed a gun at her.
She wrestled with the man and managed to get the weapon out of his hand. But then he whipped a bigger gun out of his waist. Dr. Poulot managed to pull the stocking from her attacker’s face, and he lashed her in the face with the gun.
As he lashed her with the weapon, he demanded money. The doctor gave him her pouch with a stethoscope, $5,000 in cash, her spectacles and a few pairs of bangles. As the man left, he ripped the telephone from the wall. Dr. Poulot shouted for help and her colleague in the next room came to her assistance.
Meanwhile, when the Guyana Chronicle visited the injured woman at the newly constructed Doctor’s quarters, where other Cuban nationals had gathered, this newspaper was informed that the recent attack was not the only such incident. Dr Daniel Yanez, a surgeon, said the attack is the seventh such incident since he came to Guyana just over a year ago.
The medical practitioner related that the doctors at the quarters are plagued by robberies, and recalled an attack last week when a bandit, armed with a knife, robbed the eye specialist, an Indian national. He said the incidents are recurring despite reports to the police, and he is calling on the relevant authorities to address the matter.
Dr Yanez said too that security personnel were supposed to be on duty a mere three feet away from Dr Poulot’s apartment. There are thirteen Cubans practicing medicine in New Amsterdam, five of whom are females. Meanwhile, the police are continuing their investigations. (Guyama Cronicle)
Man dies in 'chic chic' fracas
Four youths held
A 28-year-old man died on Saturday night after he was attacked by four youths, hours after an argument over a 'chic chic' board game at a pre Father's Day party in front of the New Modern Hotel & Nightclub located at First Avenue, Bartica.
Stabroek News understands that Quacy Mc Kay, called Royston and Tazoo, of Kingelly Village, West Coast Berbice, was pulled out of the river and according to family members the man's body bore a stab wound. Police in Bartica have since launched an investigation and have the four youths, who are said to be between the ages of 12 and 15, in custody.
According to an uncle, the man had been in Bartica since January of this year where he was working with a contractor repairing the township roads and parapets. He said a co-worker of the young man informed them that they were in front of the hotel when an argument developed between Mc Kay and some youths forcing him, the co-worker, to step in and calm things down.
The co-worker said he had entered the hotel to purchase three beers and when he returned he saw that one of the youths had taken a lamp off of the `chic chic' board and was holding it in Mc Kay's face. The uncle said he was told that the co-worker was forced to intervene again and the youths left and McKay and the co-worker also subsequently departed the area.
It was early yesterday morning that the co-worker received a call from the police and he was told to identify his friend's body.
The co-worker said he learnt that Mc Kay was returning to their camp, located in the old PNCR compound, when he was pounced upon by the youths. According to word out of Bartica, McKay may have attempted to evade his attackers by jumping into the river but he was followed by the youths.
This newspaper was also told that Mc Kay may have won in the `chic chic' board game and his earnings may have angered the youths who wanted their money back. They demanded same from him but he refused. Mc Kay is the father of one and his reputed wife is expecting another. His uncle said it was the worst possible Father's Day news anyone could receive but said that the family is trying to cope with the tragedy.
Mc Kay is the son of Shirley Shepherd and Peter Mc Kay and is one of eight children.Police have said that they would have to await a post-mortem examination to determine what the man had died from as the possibility exists that he may have drowned. But until then they are treating his death as a homicide and the youths will remain in custody. (Oluatoyin Alleyne and Shabna Ullah/Stabroek News)
June 17, 2007 Father of four critical after shot by bandit
Shaykh Afseer Hussein
A father of four of Number 79 Village, Corriverton is in a critical condition at the New Amsterdam Hospital after he was shot by one of five bandits who attempted to rob him around 8.15 pm on Friday.
Stabroek News learnt that the bullet hit Shaykh Afseer Hussein, 36, in his right side upper chest and passed diagonally across the abdominal area, damaging his spine, pelvis and liver. Hussein underwent surgery and was reported to be in a lot of pain.
A police press release issued yesterday evening said Hussein had been shot in the shoulder and that there was no clear motive for his shooting. The police said they were investigating.
According to reports, Hussein was returning home after performing his night prayers at the Darul Uloom at Number 74 Village when he was confronted by the bandits.
He was about to open the gate to drive into his yard when two bandits ran up to him and asked, "Where is the money? Bring the money." Taken aback, he enquired, "Which money; what are you talking about?"
His nine-year-old son who was in the car saw what was happening to his father. He also saw three other bandits approaching with a gun and he started to scream. One of the bandits hit the child, took him out of the car and went to tie him up under the house.
Instinctively, Hussein attempted to run to his son's rescue, but a bandit hit him with a piece of wood and another fired the shot. The men then immediately fled the scene while Hussein was rushed to the Skeldon Hospital.
He was transported to the NA Hospital by an ambulance "after waiting some time for them to locate one," a Muslim brother from the Darul Uloom said.
He said they had already made arrangements for persons in NA to pick up the doctors and take them to the hospital. He said the doctors were there when they arrived but they were delayed for about 20 minutes while waiting on an x-ray technician. The brother said Hussein was to be transferred to the Georgetown Public Hospital but doctors in Berbice have to observe him for 24 hours.
Meanwhile, other brothers of the Darul Uloom and the different Islamic organizations are saddened at the attack on Hussein. They described him as an "extremely humble person." "We are puzzled as to why the bandits would want to target him. He is not a businessman or anything," a brother said.
The brother said Hussein, a lecturer at the Darul Uloom, an Islamic School, "promotes morality and good values. I find it ironic that he [Hussein] had to be shot in that manner. But this is indeed a test from God." When this newspaper contacted the family yesterday, Hussein's wife was too distraught to speak and her family, especially the child who witnessed the ordeal were still traumatized. (Stabroek News)
June 16, 2007
Sister escapes from Den Amstel murderer
Claudine Rampersaud
The surviving sibling is nursing a gaping wound to her face and her reputed husband, Ryan Lewis, was yesterday still in critical condition at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), having been stabbed in the back twice and chopped on the head and fingers.
The 30-year-old Rampersaud was allegedly killed by her estranged paramour who was at large up to press time.
The survivor Payne, of Lot 35 Public Road, Den Amstel, West Coast Demerara, told the Guyana Chronicle she, Lewis and their children were on the way home after visiting her parents.
Shellon Payne and her children who escaped unhurt during the attack.
About 21:30h, a friend reported that the killer was dragging the victim into the yard where they used to live together up to several months ago.
She said they hurried to the place, suspecting that her sister was being beaten again and, when they arrived at the house, she heard her sister screaming for help and murder.
Payne said she called out to her sister while begging the assailant to open but, as the screams intensified, Lewis kicked down the door and they were confronted by the angry attacker who chopped her, too, wounding her in the face and attacking her spouse.She said she had to drop her two-year-old son who was in her arms and Lewis did likewise with the boy’s three-year-old sister, causing both children to roll down the stairs.
Fortunately, they were not injured. Their mother said, if they were not dropped, they would have suffered injuries, as well. Payne said she fled leaving Lewis and the children and, when she returned, he was lying on the road with blood oozing from his wounds. She and Lewis were then rushed to the hospital.
Shellon Payne
Rampersaud was murdered on her return home where the killer waited and forced her into the now abandoned house in which they previously lived. Payne said, during her lifetime, Rampersaud endured a rocky common law relationship for more than nine years with the very jealous, possessive and abusive man.
He always accused her of having other men but my sister worked very hard to look after their four children and was not the type to have affairs,” Payne vouched. The couple had resided in the bottom flat of her parents’ house at Lot 24 Back Street, Den Amstel.
Rampersaud died after suffering many wounds, including two gaping ones, one of which severed her head from her body. The suspected murder weapons, two carpenter’s hatchets, have not been found and the fugitive is believed to have taken them with him into hiding.Relatives said, before the killing, the spurned man had collected pieces of clothing and photographs, cleared the surrounding drains and erected a shed prior to sharpening the blades and placing them in the abandoned house and then waited for his victim.
Rampersaud was a Special Constable attached to Guyana Power & Light (GPL), at Vreed-en-Hoop, also on the West Coast Demerara, for the past three years. (Michel Outridge/Guyana Cronicle/Cullen Bess-Nelson photo)
June 15, 2007
Cocaine found in mystery suitcase
These parcels of cocaine wrapped in plastic and sealed with duct tape were in the suitcase that was intercepted at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri. They were covered with the bath towels at left.
Ranks of the Narcotics Branch at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri yesterday afternoon intercepted a suitcase bound for Canada with 6,583 grammes of cocaine inside.
From all appearances, persons unknown were attempting to smuggle the drug out of the country by labelling the suitcase with the name of a passenger who was scheduled to leave for Canada. That passenger was not arrested.
An officer from the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) told the media yesterday that around 1.30 pm a woman in a wheelchair scheduled to leave on a Zoom Airlines flight bound for Canada checked in with one black suitcase. The officer said an airline official later noticed a brown suitcase next to the woman's and on checking discovered that the woman's name was written on it but in a different handwriting.
Officials at the airport were alerted and on checking found six huge parcels of cocaine underneath two bath towels. There was nothing else in the suitcase. The officer told reporters that it appeared that someone had planted the drug-laden suitcase next to the woman's in an attempt to get it out of the country.
He said the matter was still being investigated and no one had been taken into custody. This latest bust comes days after a Jamaican was nabbed at the airport with over one kilogramme of cocaine in his carry-on suitcase. He appeared in court yesterday and was sentenced to four years imprisonment and fined $10,000. (Stabroek News)
June 14, 2007
In schools absenteeism campaign
Chief Welfare Officer Ms. Yvonne Arthur conducting the Operations Care Campaign in Mosquito Hall, East Coast DemeraraThe Ministry of Education yesterday intensified its campaign against absenteeism in schools with visits to East Coast Demerara.
The ‘Operation Care’ team, established for such a purpose, visited 85 per cent of the homes at Mosquito Hall, Mahaica and eight parents of 14 children were arrested.
Those taken into custody were charged and told they have to appear in Court on Tuesday, June 19. The surprise checks were to interview parents of children who were found wandering during school hours, with one aim of reintegrating them with schools. Another objective was to encourage negligent parents to educate their children and assess the absentee rate at Lancaster Primary School, also at Mahaica.
Chief Schools Welfare Officer, Ms. Yvonne Arthur observed that there is a sub-culture of wanderers guilty of non-attendance at schools in the area. She said child employment is also a major issue and, to eliminate the practices, adequate strategies have to be put in place.
Arthur said one such strategy is to warn employers about Education Act 1 and prosecute them for employing children. She said ‘Operation Care’ was in the same area 2003 and conducted a two-day blitz but she is surprised to see so many children still not attending school.
Some pupils had a genuine excuse yesterday because one school is under repairs but Arthur said the exercise would be constant so that the problem could be eradicated. She said ‘Operation Care’ will be monitoring the Court cases to ensure that the children concerned are attending school as, since the campaign started, there has been a tremendous increase in school attendance in the regions spawned.
The role of every school welfare officer is to execute care while dealing with children who are not attending school but it is the responsibility of parents to make sure they attend and benefit from free education, Arthur pointed out.
She said, according to Education Act I, parents who fail to send their children to school can be prosecuted in the Courts and, after being charged more than thrice, failure to appear before a magistrate can result in the child being removed from a parent and placed in Government care. Arthur said, in order for the initiative to be effective, Police and Welfare officers must collaborate.
The group involved yesterday were from ‘Operation Care’ and the Schools Welfare Department in Georgetown and Region Five (Mahaica/Berbice), cops from the Juvenile Branch of the Police Force and Mahaica Station. (Guyana Cronicle)
After single bullet find… Two Kadir sons remanded on illegal ammo charge
Kareem Kadir and Iqra Kadir
Twenty-nine-year old Kareem Kadir and and his brother, Iqra Kadir, 25, of Lot 95 Riverside Drive, Watooka, Linden, pleaded not guilty to the charge which said, on June 10, they had one 7.62 x 39 round at their home, without being the holders of firearm licences.
Police Inspector Desiree Fowler, prosecuting, successfully objected to bail for the siblings and they were remanded to prison until June 19.
The Prosecutor said, when Police carried out the search at their residence last Sunday, only the two brothers were there and the bedroom in which the ammo was found was wide open while the duo had full control of the entire premises.
Attorney-at-law Mr. James Bond, who made an unsuccessful application for the Kadirs’ pre-trial freedom, said the elder brother is a manager of a Linden consultancy firm and the younger graduated from the University of Guyana (UG last November with a degree in Chemistry and is waiting on overseas scholarship offers to further his studies.
Bond said the defendants have strong ties both to Linden and the Muslim community and the room from where the single bullet was taken, usually occupied by 14 persons, was previously searched but nothing of the sort was uncovered.
Defence Counsel claimed that, when Police ranks first went to the house, they had warrants but had none on the second occasion. Bond said, because they were the most vocal in standing up for their rights, the two were arrested and kept at Brickdam Police Station since last Sunday.
Meanwhile, their relatives gathered with others in the Court precincts shouting various remarks in support of the Kadirs and their father, ex-People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) Parliamentarian Abdul Kadir, who is being held in Trinidad.
Some of the supporters shouted:“Kadir is not a terrorist!” “I don’t know why they’re treating Kadir’s children like that.” “The FBI take the AK-47 bullet and put it there, cause they didn’t find nothing the first time.”
The wife of the older Kadir brother, Petal Kadir, on hearing that her husband was sent on remand, broke down in tears outside the courtroom and sat on the roadway while being consoled by another woman. His two sons were arrested Sunday while former Linden Mayor Kadir’s house was being raided also by agents of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).
The father is jointly charged with other Guyanese Abdel Nur, Guyana-born U.S. citizen Russell DeFreitas and Trinidadian Kareem Ibrahim, with plotting to blow up fuel tanks at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. (Guyana Cronicle)
June 13, 2007
New Diamond murder Housekeeper may have recognized killers
Aloysia Bernard
The 53-year-old housekeeper who was found dead in a house at New Diamond Housing Scheme, EBD on Monday may have recognized the men who broke into the home and carted off valuables, and this could have led to her gruesome death, a relative believes.
Michael Abraham, whose daughter was Aloysia Bernard's employer, told Stabroek News yesterday that the family was still in shock over the incident. He said Bernard had been with the family for the past 12 years.
He explained that both he and his wife knew Bernard while they all lived at Nappi Village in Region Nine. Abraham said his wife had sent Bernard to Georgetown to work with his daughter's friend as a live-in nanny. He explained that after that woman migrated, Bernard moved into his daughter's home and took care of his grandchildren.
He said the woman had always feared bandits would attack the house since she was alone at home during the day. "She was given strict instructions not to open the door to strangers. If the bell rang, she was told to go up upstairs and speak to the person from the veranda," Abraham said.
He, like other family members, is of the view that the woman recognized the intruders who killed her. According to him, following the incident a man was apprehended but he said a telephone call from the police yesterday gave the impression that the man might not have been involved. He was unable to confirm whether the man was still in police custody. He further stated that two others persons who worked with the family still had to be investigated.
Taking Stabroek News back to the day of the incident, Abraham said his son-in-law picked up his two children from a city school and headed home. When his son-in-law arrived around 5 pm he said, Bernard did not go to open the gate as is customary so he opened the gate himself. He said he went around the house to the back door and found it open, which was unusual. On entering the house, he found Bernard on the floor, with her hands and feet tied and a cord wrapped around her neck.
Abraham said his seven-year-old granddaughter had already seen the dead body as she entered the house through the front door, inches away from the body. At this point, he said, the police were called in and the family later discovered that jewellery and a laptop computer were missing from the house. He described Bernard as a member of the family and said it was only on Sunday that the entire family attended church.
He said she had been working closely with his daughter and looked after his grandchildren from the time they were babies. Abraham said Bernard had children in the interior and in Georgetown and arrangements were being made to take her body to Nappi for burial. He later added that the post-mortem examination will be conducted today.
Asked if there were any reports of persons in the area seeing or hearing anything suspicious, he said everyone was at work. He said there was a lot of bush in the area, particularly next door to his daughter's home and he called for it to be cleared immediately. "Those bushes need to be cleared. There are two many unclaimed house lots in the area."
He also called for more daytime as well as nighttime patrols in the area. Abraham informed this newspaper that early this year thieves broke into the house behind his daughter's and stole everything. He said this happened during the day and the occupants of the house subsequently moved out.
He added that since the murder, his daughter and her family have made the decision not to stay in the house. (Stabroek News)
June 12, 2007
Parked badly
The driver of this route number 40 minibus, badly parked in front of an active driveway between Salt and Pepper and Demico House on Croal Street, in downtown Georgetown, is charged for obstruction by a policewoman. (Guyana Cronicle)
New Diamond housekeeper found murdered in home
Jewellery missing
A 53-year-old housekeeper was yesterday afternoon discovered murdered in a house at New Diamond Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara and reports are that a quantity of jewellery is missing. Dead is Aloyisa Bernard who was employed at Lot 130 New Diamond Housing Scheme as a live-in housekeeper/nanny. Bernard's hands and feet were tied with cloth and there was some material wrapped around her neck, when she was found.
Up to press time last evening, police had not issued a statement on the incident to this newspaper. Stabroek News could not ascertain if anyone in the area heard or saw any suspicious activity during the course of the day. It was also not clear how the murderer/s gained entry into the heavily-grilled building or whether it had been ransacked. There are not many houses close to the premises where Bernard was found. The neighbouring house lot is covered with thick bush.
Reports reaching Stabroek News are that around 5.30 pm, the head of the household, Ryan Sampson, secretary of the Guyana National Rifle Association (GNRA) arrived home with his two children and discovered Bernard lying face down near the doorway when he opened the front door. It is believed that the woman might have been dead for several hours.
When Stabroek News arrived on the scene police were busy conducting their investigations both inside and outside the building and many of the family's relatives and friends were gathered expressing their shock at the incident. Both Sampson, who is employed at the US Embassy, and his wife were inconsolable while this newspaper was on the scene. Neither of their two children were in sight.
This newspaper understands that there is a suspicion that some men who had recently done some work in the area might be connected to the incident. This newspaper also understands that Sampson's older child had wanted to stay home yesterday to do some revision but was persuaded to attend school. The family and persons close to them refused to divulge much information to the media last night.
Reading a statement prepared by the family, Sampson's sister-in-law Michella Abraham-Ali, a journalist attached to the National Communications Network (NCN), told reporters that during the course of the day the house was broken into and Bernard was killed. She said there appeared to be no motive for the killing and that police were investigating. Abraham-Ali told the media that this was all the information that she could give on the situation. When asked what was taken from the house, she stated that she could not say.
Abraham-Ali later stated that Bernard celebrated her birthday last Sunday and had been with the family for about five years. She said Sampson's seven-year-old daughter was with him when the discovery was made.
Last Thursday morning, the bound, gagged and battered body of 72-year-old Daniel La Rose was found at the Saj Rice Group Inc in Bel Air Gardens, where he worked as a security guard. It is believed that La Rose a former police corporal was killed during a robbery at the building as several items were reported missing. So far, no one has been held in connection with his murder. (Stabroek News/Zoisa Fraser)
June 11, 2007
Bandits strike at Taymouth Manor store
Beat man, cart off cell phones
Three masked men, at least one of whom was armed with a handgun, on Saturday night invaded a Taymouth Manor, Essequibo store, severely beating a man before escaping with just over half a million dollars in money, cellular phones and a computer.
During the ten-minute ordeal, the bandits gun-butted one of the store's employees and repeatedly slammed his head against the tiles while stomping on him. A woman, who they also caught, was threatened with a "chopper" before the bandits finally decided that "we gat enough" and escaped with $86,000 in cash, 15 cellular phones and related accessories and a laptop computer together valued at around $567,000. The police though they responded promptly were unable to apprehend anyone.
Proprietor of the Tomesh Computer and Cell Phone Plaza, Tomesh related to Stabroek News that it was just about 7 pm on Saturday when he observed a man walk into the yard. The store is separated from his home and he was sitting under the home, a short distance away. Thinking that the man was a customer, he sent his uncle, Eshwar Bhola to tend to him.
He stated that he then heard "don't move" and fearing the worst went to investigate. Peering through the door he saw the man pointing a gun at his uncle, and then observed two other men rush up to the store and stand guard at the door. He stated that he immediately ducked down and crawled upstairs and called the police.
His grandmother and two aunts, in the meantime, were in the kitchen doing the dishes and after hearing a noise and expletives emanating from the store, the 65-year-old grandmother peeked out and observed the three men. The women then fled to the backyard. One of the aunts, Sandra Persaud, however, was not fast enough and two of the bandits who rushed to the kitchen caught her and threatening her with a "chopper" demanded money and jewellery. Persaud told the men that she did not reside there and then closed her eyes and prayed.
Meanwhile, the other bandit had forced Bhola from the store into the kitchen where they began to beat him with the gun, all the while demanding money and jewellery. He was placed to lie on the floor and the bandits repeatedly slammed his head against the tiles while making their demands. Seemingly getting nowhere, one of the bandits declared that "we gat enough" and they ran towards the main road.
Tomesh stated that when he peered out again, he observed the three men running away and heard his aunt screaming and shouting "they gone! They gone!" He noted that the bandits had stuffed three haversacks with the items that they had looted.
He said that the police arrived within three minutes but were unable to apprehend anyone. Bhola was rushed to the Suddie Hospital where he was admitted with head injuries. Tomesh said that up to yesterday his uncle was in a stable condition though "he can't feel his head".
This attack comes on the heels of another at Richmond Village, Essequibo which stunned residents. In that attack eight masked men, two of whom were armed with guns, raided a store and robbed and beat customers. The owner, Victor Warner and several patrons were relieved of money and a large amount of jewellery.
The police had detained three men for questioning in that incident and it is believed that that robbery may have been perpetrated by locals, as during the ordeal one of the store's customers was called by name. Some of the men in that gang were also barefoot and used hammers and cutlasses.
Residents in both communities are shocked over the brutal nature of the robberies. There has been a surge in robberies and other serious crimes in several parts of the country. (Stabroek News)
Terror suspect had digital images of JKF depots
When local police arrested Guyanese terror accused Imam Abdul Kadir they handed over his luggage, including a briefcase with his passport, digital camera and flash drive to a man unknown to them and claiming to be Kadir's friend. Two days later Special Branch officers were forced to take out a search warrant which they executed at the man's Diego Martin home to retrieve Kadir's belongings the Sunday Express confirmed.
Two Friday's ago United States authorities asked that Kadir be arrested and gave no detailed information to local law enforcement as to why the Guyanese must be held except to say that he was wanted in the US. The Sunday Express was told that the Venezuela-bound aircraft Kadir was in had already taxied on to the runway and had to be stopped and turned around to facilitate his arrest. The arrest was around 11 a.m.
The Diego Martin man went to see Kadir at the Port of Spain CID hours after the United States had revealed why Kadir was wanted. Police refused to allow the man to see Kadir but handed over his personal belonging to him for "safe keeping".
In the criminal charge against Kadir, part of the FBI's case is that he had digital images of the JKF fuel depots and that his camera had pictures of him posing with guns, according to the source identified as Terry De Souza known as Anas bin Naddar.
De Souza and terror accused Russell De Freitas came to Trinidad on May 20 around 9.30 p.m. on a flight from Guyana. De Souza has not been charged with any crime by the US. Local accused in the matter Kareem Ibrahiim had earlier been asked to host the men an offer to which his daughter Huda Ibrahiim said her father was Islamically obliged to agree.
In an exclusive interview with the Sunday Express Huda said that her father had never spoken to the men before and at the time of their arrival he was in Tobago. Ibrahiim went to Tobago two days before the men's arrival. De Souza and De Freitas spent six days at Ibrahiim's Canefarm home and both left on May 26.
"We knew that they were coming but my father never met or had spoken to them before," Huda said. Huda said that her father did not spend all of his time with the men during their stay and that they had no visitors. She said that both men went out on their own without her father.
According to the criminal charge one of the places they visited was the Jamaat al Muslimeen. The Jamaat has said the terror plot is a "conspiracy" to entrap its leader Imam Yasin Abu Bakr who is facing sedition charges in Trinidad. Naddar is said to have come to Trinidad with surveillance equipment including a high powered camera, sources say.
Naddar took photos of the St Joseph Mosque from about 12 kilometres away on Mount St Benedict which he showed to certain people. He attended Friday prayers and recorded Ibrahiim's sermon. At the end of the prayer session Naddar asked Ibrahiim to repeat parts of the sermon in which Ibrahiim spoke about the virtues of self sacrifice. (Guyana Cronicle/Trinidad Express)
June 09, 2007
Have you seen this escapee?
Derrick Persaud
Police say that the search continues for Derrick Persaud, one of two prisoners who escaped from the Lusignan, East Coast Demerara Prison last week Friday.
Police Public Relations Officer, John Sauers confirmed that Persaud is yet to be recaptured.
Police had reported last week Friday that around 2.15 pm the two prisoners, Devon Bailey of Campbellville, who is serving twenty-five years for manslaughter, and Persaud of Better Hope, who is serving two three-year terms for break and enter and larceny jumped the prison fence and fled into the bushes.
Quick work by the police and prison service resulted in the capture of Bailey the said day, but there has been no sighting of Persaud. Over recent months a number of prisoners have escaped from jails and police station lock-ups. (Stabroek News)
Razac murder PI
Wife's personal trainer testifies
Carolan Lynch
The personal trainer of beauty queen Carolan Lynch was on Thursday called as the first witness in the preliminary inquiry (PI) into her husband's death. Exactly one month after Lynch was charged with murdering her husband Farouk Razac, Swiss House cambio boss, the preliminary inquiry commenced. It is being conducted before Magistrate Gordon Gilhuys at the Georgetown Magistrate's Court.
The magistrate also ruled in favour of the prosecution and denied the defence attorney's application for the disclosure of the post-mortem report, the doctor's notes and to know whether samples were taken from the body of Razac for an independent study to be done.
Special prosecutor in the murder PI, Hukumchand, called Karan Dutt who is self-employed as a personal trainer. After just over an hour on the stand the case was adjourned to a later date. The witness has to continue his testimony and be cross-examined by the defence.
The magistrate before ruling had stated earlier that he looked at submissions from both the defence and prosecution and the issue of disclosure rests with the court when the application is made. He stated that the case referred to by counsel on the last occasion was a mere guidance to the courts.
He added that the practice in Guyana was to have the post-mortem report tendered at the PI and he will not allow the prosecution to disclose the material being asked for by the attorney, since he saw no harm being done to the defence's preparation for their case. He then ruled that the defence's application was denied and that the attorney can go to the High Court.
Attorney-at-law Nigel Hughes for Lynch had requested a copy of the post-mortem report and medical notes from Dr Nehaul Singh. He also enquired in a letter to the DPP whether samples were indeed taken from the deceased's body and in the event that samples were removed, the purpose for which they were removed and the institution to which they will be submitted for testing.
Hughes told the court that he was not honoured with a response from the DPP and so he made an application directly to the court for a ruling that copies of the post-mortem report be handed over to the defence by the prosecution.
Razac was found dead in his Ireng Place, Bel Air Park home. Lynch and Razac had previously been charged with unlawful possession of four 9 mm magazines, one Beretta automatic pistol and 120 rounds of 9 mm ammunition at the same home on November 10 last year. She is now facing that charge alone. The case continues on June 25. (Stabroek News)
June 08, 2007
Security guard murdered at workplace
MURDERED: ex-Policeman Daniel La Rose
Police said La Rose, of Lot 118 Shell Road, Kitty, also in the city, had been bound and gagged and there were marks of violence to his left eye and head. There was evidence that persons had been in the building where they ate food and consumed beverages from empty bottles strewn about.
La Rose was employed at the place for about three weeks and had left his home Wednesday at 20:30h, as usual, relatives said. When he did not return yesterday morning, family members began enquiring after his whereabouts but calls to his cellular phone were not answered.
Grieving relatives yesterday at the home of Daniel La RoseThey said an official of FAJ, reporting for work, saw the gate to the premises locked and jumped over the fence to investigate when he made the gruesome discovery.
La Rose, whose regulation number was 6412, served the Guyana Police Force for 31 years.
At the crime scene, there was evidence of a break-in Police said. Several items are missing from the building including a fax machine, two computers and a microwave oven.
La Rose’s wallet, bag and cellular phone were, however, on his person. Police said they are investigating the crime. (Guyana Cronicle)
June 07, 2007
The Kadir affair Informant in deposition identified
The individual named as an informant in the deposition against the four alleged terror plot suspects has been identified as Terry DeSouza, a US citizen. And the Guyanese police have since taken his maid, who used to wash his clothes, into custody for questioning.
De Souza, of stocky build and a Muslim, Anas Nabdel, reportedly told persons with whom he boarded that he was originally from the Dominican Republic, according to a source. The men who broke their silence following the arrest of four men, three of them Guyanese, said too that De Souza left owing them $340, 000 for boarding and lodging.
The men, told the source that De Souza, when he arrived, expressed an interest in establishing a fat-pork ( a fruit in abundance in Linden) project. He was interested too in lime soap and exporting boards and staves. The Muslim brother said it was they who took him to Linden and while there he was introduced to Kadir.
They subsequently parted ways with him after he began showing an interest in Adnan Gulshair el-Shukrijumah, a nuke phantom being targeted by the Feds and one of Osama’s henchman named in the JFK plot. De Souza had also requested that the men accompany him to Trinidad and Tobago.
Meanwhile, Guyanese-born United States citizen Russel Mortimer De Freitas, who was held in the United States last week and is one of four persons charged by United States law enforcement officials with allegedly conspiring to blow up the John Kennedy International airport, fuel storage tanks and underground fuel pipelines, narrowly missed arrest in the US in March, 2003.
He was then one of two Guyanese, the other a prominent Guyanese woman, who had arrived at JFK aboard a North American Airlines flight from Guyana in , only to find on retrieving their baggage that there were cocaine packages inside.
In a subsequent interview with journalist Adam Harris of Prime News, Guyana, in June 2004, DeFreitas said that on arrival at JFK and on retrieving his luggage, he observed six packages which did not belong to him. On instinct, De Freitas said he went to Immigration and explained his finding and to his astonishment when the packages were opened they all contained cocaine, weighing two kilogrammes each.
In the room, at the time was the Guyanese woman in whose luggage was found two identical packages, with similar markings and weight. The woman was at a her wit’s end trying to convince officials at JFK that she had nothing to do with the packages, as the officials kept telling her, “All of you say that,” it was reported
It was De Freitas who saved her day as well as his. Ironically, today, June 7, marks three years since the interview between Harris and De Freitas. (Wendella Davidson/Guyana Cronicle)
Khan trial delayed as new lawyer added to defence
A new lawyer, Herman White, has joined the team representing drug accused businessman Shaheed 'Roger' Khan and immediately told the court on Tuesday that he needed 90 days to study the case and prepare his motions.
White's inclusion on the defence team came one week after Judge Dora Irizarry asked one of two new attorneys the defence had introduced, to withdraw. The other attorney left on his own accord, citing a problem of conflict of interest.
White, according to reports, has been recruited to prepare the motions for the case. When Khan appeared in the Brooklyn Court House on Tuesday, Justice Irizarry reminded his lawyers that they were to draw up a motion schedule. White said he was willing to give the prosecution any amount of time to respond to the motion he would file, but said that he would not be ready for another 90 days.
The US government said it would need at least 45 days to respond to whatever motion White presented and if necessary would request more time. It therefore means that Khan's next court date would be in September and his trial which was expected to start this year would not likely commence until next year.
The judge also set November 5 and 30 as dates for the defence to make oral arguments. At the last court hearing the judge had asked new attorney, Teleforo Del Valle to withdraw from the case, saying that she knew him well. The judge said she was the godmother of one of the lawyer's children and the two of them had worked on many bar associations. She indicated that it could be assumed that the defence deliberately recruited De Valle so as to get her to recuse herself from the case, but she made it clear that according to US laws it was the lawyer who had to withdraw and not her.
During the same hearing, another lawyer also opted out of the case, saying he had a problem with conflict of interest.
He did not state what the problem was. Khan is currently before a New York court charged with 18 counts of conspiracy to import cocaine into the US. He was seized in Trinidad and Tobago last year June by US officials and flown to New York. (Stabroek News)
June 06, 2007
Gang storms store
Seven armed men ran into a grocery store at Richmond Public Road, Essequibo on Monday night, robbing the owner and his customers of money and jewellery before escaping. According to a police press release at about 9.30 pm, the men, two of whom had guns, robbed 66-year-old businessman Victor Warner and five customers of money, jewellery and cellular phones.
The release added that Warner was tending to his customers when the men ran into the store and ordered everyone to lie on the floor. They then proceeded to rob them of their valuables. One of the men jumped the counter, taking $20,000. The men also took away two cellular phones and jewellery from Warner while relieving the customers of $31,700. They then fled the store into the community. Investigations are continuing. (Stabroek News)
Abdel Nur surrenders Claims all a set up
Abdel Nur, the 57-year-old Guyanese terrorist suspect, gave himself up to the West End Police in Diego Martin, Trinidad yesterday after he saw his photograph on the front pages of newspapers.
His friends at Covigne Road, Diego Martin, whose home he had moved into since last week Wednesday, were also unaware that he was one of the four men implicated in the alleged terrorist plot to destroy the JFK Airport in the United States, and that police had circulated his picture describing him as armed and dangerous.
His neighbours were the first to see Newsday and immediately confronted him with it. Nur -- whose real name is Campton Eversley-- looked at the person in the picture and could not deny his identity. One of the neighbours -- who did not want to be identified -- spoke with Nur convincing him that it was in his best interest to surrender to the police.
Nur, dressed in a grey T-shirt with a Reebok print, and baggy trousers, reported to the nearby West End Police Station around 11.30 am where he was handed over to CID officers.
Officers of the West End Police Station told Newsday that Nur smiled while being processed and said he loved Trinidad and the United States. Later in the day, when he was taken to the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court, he told reporters “It’s a set up...America never did me nothing. USA is my friend.”
Nur was brought before Senior Magistrate Lianne Lee Kim in the Port-of-Spain Fourth Magistrates’ Court where extradition proceedings against him began yesterday. The Magistrate asked him if he had a lawyer to which he replied no, saying that he could not afford one as he was “a poor guy”.
Lee Kim read the charge to him. It is alleged that he conspired with other persons to commit terrorist acts in contravention of the laws of the United States of America. A provisional warrant had been signed for his arrest since June 1, 2007.
Nur, who sported a grey and black beard, and stood with his wrists behind his back, in the prisoners’ dock of the packed courtroom, spoke in broken English. He told Lee Kim that he would apply for legal aid.
The Magistrate remanded him in custody and referred him to a judge in chambers if he wished to secure bail. Nur will re-appear in court next Monday along with Trinidadian Kareem Ibrahim, 56, and Abdul Kadir, 55, a former Guyana opposition parliamentarian both of whom appeared in court on Monday. Both are alleged to be his co-conspirators.
Nur told the police that he arrived in Trinidad from Guyana on May 20. He said he stayed at the home of a friend at Carapo Village, Arima, and last Wednesday, he went to the house at Covigne Road. He also told officers he was no terrorist. And he denied plotting to destroy JFK. When he left court yesterday afternoon he said, “It’s a set up! It’s a set up! It’s a set up!”
Records indicate that Nur is a citizen of Guyana, lived in Brooklyn and Toronto. He was deported to Guyana after he was arrested on a drug charge. When Newsday visited the house where Nur was staying, the occupants declined to be photographed, or have the house photographed.
Police investigators say they will not be laying any charge against the occupants of the house because they believe they were unaware that the person who was staying there was Abdel Nur. When reporters asked Nur outside the courthouse yesterday who had set him up, he said, “the US.” (Guyana Cronicle/NALINEE SEELAL and ANDRE BAGOO/Trinidad Newsday)
Nur proclaims innocence
PORT OF SPAIN, (Reuters) - A fourth suspect in what U.S. authorities said was a plot to blow up New York's JFK International Airport surrendered to police yesterday, proclaiming his innocence.
Abdel Nur of Guyana, the only one of four suspects still at large, turned himself in shortly after midday at a police station in Diego Martin in western Trinidad, a senior Trinidad and Tobago police official said. "I am an innocent man and this is all a setup," Nur told reporters as he was led in handcuffs into a court in the Caribbean nation's capital for his initial appearance before a magistrate.
U.S. authorities have said Nur and at least one other suspect in the alleged plot belonged to Jamaat al Muslimeen, a Muslim group behind a 1990 coup attempt in Trinidad.
The group's leader, 64-year-old Yasin Abu Bakr, is facing sedition and extortion charges for a 2005 sermon in which he is accused of threatening bloodshed against all Trinidadian Muslims who fail to pay him a "zakaat" or tax. Nur's surrender followed the arrests in Trinidad over the weekend of two other men accused by U.S. authorities of plotting the airport attack.
Abdul Kadir, a citizen of Guyana and former opposition member of parliament, and Kareem Ibrahim, a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago, made their initial court appearance in the capital of the twin-island nation Monday.
Another suspect, Russell Defreitas, a U.S. citizen and native of Guyana, was arrested in New York. U.S. authorities said he was a former airport employee who conducted surveillance for the group, identifying targets and escape routes.
The trio in Trinidad will appear in court for a bail hearing on Monday and have been scheduled for another courtroom appearance on Aug. 2, when the United States will press for their extradition. Nur did not elaborate on his claim of innocence. Kadir and Ibrahim were also described as innocent in a statement issued by one of their family members.
The lengthy statement from Huda Ibrahim, a 21-year-old daughter of Kareem Ibrahim, said he and Kadir were victims of a campaign by the U.S. Republican Party aimed at bolstering its standing in the 2008 presidential election by sowing fear about terrorism.
"Unfortunately, innocent persons with no connection whatsoever to the political and military disputes between the United States and the Middle East ... have been used as pawns in an international game of subterfuge."
As with other similar recent cases in the United States, authorities have acknowledged the plot was more "aspirational" than operational, and was nipped in the bud by law enforcement agencies before it got off the ground. The case follows one last month in which U.S. authorities arrested six Muslims, aged 22 to 28, on suspicion of planning to attack the military base at Fort Dix, New Jersey.
A federal grand jury yesterday indicted the six on suspicion of conspiracy to murder members of the armed forces and for possessing weapons after they bought AK-47s and M-16 assault rifles from a government informant who had infiltrated the group. The group was alleged by prosecutors to be Islamist but is not believed to have links to international organizations. (Additional reporting by Daniel Trotta in New York/Guyana Cronicle/Linda Hutchinson-Jafar)
Police checking on Kadir travels
Polive here are checking on the frequency with which terror plot suspect, former PNCR parliamentarian Abdul Kadir, travelled from Guyana, but at this time they are unaware of any Muslim radical links in Guyana, Commissioner of Police Henry Greene said yesterday.
And, with four men, three of them Guyanese currently behind bars on account of an uncovered terror plot to blow up a fuel line at JFK Airport in New York, he said a local police team has been put together to collaborate with the United States in the ongoing investigations.
At a news conference at Police headquarters in Georgetown hours after Guyanese Abdel Nur, also known as Campton Eversley, turned himself over to Police in Trinidad, Greene said the Police here are seeking the whereabouts of two men who, on the day prior to the Police searching the room in which Nur lived at 68 Bar Street, Albouystown, had entered the premises and removed clothes.
He said too, the Police when they visited, found that the room in which Nur lives, was not secured and appeared abandoned, as it contained nothing of substance.
The FBI is reported to have been conducting surveillance on the four men for some time, and in February requested that Nur be arrested and finger-printed. But, Greene said local law enforcement officials here saw “nothing unusual” with the request, as an investigation into the uncovered plot was launched only after Kadir’s arrest.
Nur, who the Commissioner said, was deported from Canada for drug-related matters, departed Guyana on May 20 last for Trinidad using an Inter Caribbean Travel Document (ICTD), issued in the name Campton Eversley. It was Nur’s first travel outside these shores since his deportation from Canada, Greene said.
And, while no criminal records were found for Nur, the Commissioner said he has some concerns about some characters with whom he associated. Greene said Nur told Police when they held him here in February that he learnt of the Muslim faith while serving time in prison in Canada.
Of Russel Mortimer De Freitas, 63, the other Guyanese held in Brooklyn, he said not much information has been garnered on him. Greene said he has a home in Roxanne Burnham Gardens, Georgetown, started visiting in August and had travelled to Linden this year where he met Kadir.
Police learnt too, that during one of the visits, De Freitas and a friend had attempted to stay at Nur’s place. At Kadir’s home in Linden, among the documents found during a search conducted by the Police were maps (of pipelines), according to the Commissioner.
He said Kadir’s wife, Isha, and seven of his nine children who were there, were questioned. The wife denied knowing about any plot to blow up JFK or her husband’s involvement. Mrs. Kadir claimed that her was on his way to Iran to attend an Islamic conference but would first have travelled to Venezuela via Trinidad to apply for a visa, Greene said. Kadir was in Trinidad that he was arrested.
Mrs. Kadir, who said they belonged to the Shia Muslim sect, acknowledged that her husband had developed a relationship with Abu Bakr, leader of the radical Jamaat Al Muslimeen in Trinidad, while he was studying at the University of the West Indies.
But according to Greene, she said the Muslimeen are from the Sunni sect and have no connection with the Kadirs who are Shia. The Police Commissioner said Bakr visited Guyana some time ago and went to Linden where he met Kadir, and the two men had been associates in an export business which folded up. (Wendella Davidson/Guyana Cronicle)
June 05, 2007
Terror plot suspects in court
TERROR PLOT ACCUSED: Abdul Kadir, left, and Kareem Ibrahim in court in Trinidad yesterday.
Former People’s National Congress Reform MP Abdul Kadir and another suspect in a foiled plot to blow up New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport appeared in court in Trinidad and Tobago yesterday and were accused of conspiring to commit terrorism.
Kadir, also a former Mayor of Linden, and Kareem Ibrahim, a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago, are among four suspects in the case, which has raised the possibility of Islamic radicalism taking root in the Caribbean.
They were led into a packed Port of Spain court in handcuffs at about 09:30h for a brief initial appearance before Chief Magistrate Sherman McNichols. "They have been accused of an offence to commit a terrorist act under the laws of the United States," David West, an attorney representing the U.S. government, told the judge.
Kadir and Ibrahim, who were bearded and clad in loose-fitting traditional Muslim clothing like many of the courtroom spectators, looked calm and kept mostly silent during the 20-minute hearing. McNichols told them they faced possible extradition to the United States. McNichols set a hearing on formal extradition proceedings for Aug. 2.
There was no request for bail at yesterday's hearing and Rajiv Persad, a defence lawyer, said he needed more time to prepare the case. A third suspect, Russell Defreitas, a U.S. citizen and native of Guyana, was arrested in New York. U.S. authorities said he was a former JFK Aiport employee who conducted surveillance for the group, using his knowledge of the site to identify targets and escape routes.
U.S. authorities have said Kadir and a fourth suspect, Abdel Nur of Guyana, believed to be at large in Trinidad, belonged to Jamaat al Muslimeen, a Muslim group behind a 1990 coup attempt in Trinidad. U.S. officials said they did not believe the men were linked to al Qaeda. Jamaat al Muslimeen has not commented on the suspects' alleged plot to blow up the airport's jet fuel tanks and part of the 40-mile (64-km) pipeline feeding them.
Trinidadian Police Commissioner Trevor Paul, who said local authorities were working closely with the FBI, declined to comment on Jamaat al Muslimeen at a news conference. He appealed for all citizens to be on the lookout for Nur, whose photograph, showing a thin black man with a grey-black beard, was issued to the news media.
"Mr. Nur is wanted for an alleged terrorist act and we consider him to be armed and dangerous," Paul said. He said authorities had established that Nur, whose given name was Campton Eversley, arrived in Trinidad on May 20. In his brief remarks in court, Ibrahim acknowledged under questioning from McNichols that he was Winston Kingston before he took his Muslim name. He said he was also known as Amir Karim.
Ibrahim, 56, and Kadir, 55, were held by Trinidad police over the weekend. Before the media could converge on the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court, local police quietly slipped Ibrahim and Kadir into the court building at 07.20h.
Kadir wore an olive green shirt jack suit and sported a short white beard. Ibrahim, a small-framed man, also wore a Nehru suit, a black and white fez, and sported a large white beard. Attorney Persad said he was representing both men, along with Fyard Hosein SC, Rishi Dass, and Farid Scoon. (Guyana Cronicle/(Photo, courtesy Newsday of Trinidad)
PNCR condemns reported plot to blow up JFK
The main opposition People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) yesterday condemned the alleged plot by a former party MP and three others to blow up the JFK Airport in New York and welcomed the Guyana Government’s prompt offer to the responsible authorities to help solve the case.
“The party…condemns the reported plot to blow up the John F. Kennedy Airport in New York, alleged to have been planned by four individuals, one of whom is a former Member of Parliament of the PNCR, Mr. Abdul Kadir,” party leader Robert Corbin told reporters at the its Congress Place headquarters in Georgetown. He said the fact of the plot being intercepted before it was hatched was evidence of the way security has come to be organised since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.
Corbin said of recent Kadir did not pay a pivotal role in the party at the national or regional level, noting that someone else was chosen to represent the Linden constituency after the party’s resounding defeat at the last August general and regional elections. Kadir, a former Mayor of the mining town of Linden, served the party as a Member of Parliament for five years from 2001 to the end of the eighth Parliament.
“The People's National Congress Reform is unequivocal in both its condemnation of and action against terrorist activities. Our party’s position is that terrorist acts in whatever guise, perpetuated by persons in pursuit of whatever cause is heinous and unacceptable,” Corbin said.
He said the party knows Kadir, an engineer by profession, as a Muslim, “a devout one”. “He has been a well respected member of the Linden community, and, to the best of our knowledge, has never in our party or in Guyana, displayed a proclivity for illegality or any form of extremism,” he said.
Corbin said the “PNCR welcomes the prompt response of the government in which it offered to deal with terrorism and promised to work with International agencies towards this end.” He said his party was unreserved in its condemnation of the terrorist activities of 9/11 and was “unrelenting in our support for the elimination of such threats to security, whether national or international.”
He claimed that when the PNC took power in December 1964 its immediate task was to deal with anti-government terrorism and related activities in the wake of the “hurricane” of protest engineered by the PPP then led by Dr. Cheddi Jagan. Further, he noted that “eleven of our young and talented citizens along with those of two other states were killed when the Air Cubana Flight 455 was destroyed by an act of terrorism on October 6, 1976.”
“This act was perpetrated by Cuban exiles who have not yet been apprehended and brought to justice. The PNCR still hopes that these perpetrators of terrorism will be caught and that justice will indeed triumph,” he stated. Corbin said “those who perpetrate acts of terrorism should not be sheltered or protected.” “Experience has therefore taught us that terrorism in whatever guise is destructive and has no place in the interaction between peoples and nations”, he said. (Guyana Cronicle)
FBI widens manhunt for Abdel Nur
Trinidad and Tobago Police Commissioner Trevor Paul yesterday appealed to members of the public who may have information on the whereabouts of alleged terrorist plotter, Abdel Nur, whose real name is Campton Eversley, to contact the police with immediate effect.
Nur, 57, is one of four men who United States authorities are claiming were involved in a “chilling” plot to blow up a fuel line that feeds John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. The fuel line, from a tank farm in New Jersey, runs through several residential neighbourhoods on its way to JFK airport.
Paul told reporters at the weekly press briefing at Police headquarters in Port of Spain records indicate Nur entered Trinidad on May 20 and may still be in the country. However, the Police Commissioner has not ruled out the possibility that Nur may have fled Trinidad. The Commissioner also confirmed a Newsday report that Nur may be in possession of false passports, and may have used those documents to leave Trinidad.
Nur was identified as being 176 centimetres tall, with black and grey hair and brown eyes. Paul reiterated the urgent need for Nur to be located, and added that the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) is spearheading the manhunt for Nur with the assistance of Trinidad police officers.
The Commissioner said the local police officers have not received any key information on where Nur may be hiding, but he is hoping that he is located soon. Paul said he will not allow anyone to disrupt the peace of the country, and several security measures have been put in place in the event that Nur may try to flee Trinidad. He reinforced the need for the public to assist in finding Nur.
“This is our country, and we need to protect it from persons who are intent on disrupting the peace,” said a tough talking Commissioner Paul. Newsday newspaper in Trinidad said it learned that FBI officers are also taking their search for Nur to Guyana and Venezuela.
Sources here said Nur has been identified as the uncle of Andrew `Sixhead’ Lewis, former Guyanese World Boxing Association world welterweight champion. (Guyana Cronicle)
Muslim groups shocked at alleged terror plot
Ten Muslim organisations in Guyana yesterday expressed “deep dismay and shock” at the recent series of events leading to the indictment of four persons, three of whom are Guyanese by birth, on charges of conspiracy to destroy the main fuel supply of the JFK International Airport.
“We wish to categorically and unequivocally reiterate that this kind of activity, or any expression of intent to be part of such activity, goes against the basic norms and teachings of our noble religion Islam and we unreservedly condemn it and publicly disassociate ourselves and our members from any persons or groups who are involved in any such activity,” the organisations said.
Those issuing the statement were the Guyana Islamic Trust, the Guyana Muslim Mission Limited, the Anjuman Hefazatul Islam, the Muslim Youth League, the Muslim Youth Organisation, the United Sad’r Islamic Anjuman, the Guyana Islamic Relief Organisation, the Guyana Islamic Institute, the Guyana Islamic Forum, and Hijat Ulamaa.
The organisations said the history of Muslims in Guyana is one of peaceful co-existence punctuated by a willingness to assist in the development of our country.
“In this spirit therefore, we pledge to assist the authorities and other law enforcement agencies in the struggle against these kinds of atrocities, which besmirch the good name of our community and in the process has the potential to cause embarrassment and unwanted harassment to our decent law abiding Muslim citizens and their families,” they stated.
“We urge all others to do the same as we are reasonably assured that fair play and justice will be the ‘hallmark’ of this matter”. (Guyana Cronicle)
June 04, 2007
Waiting for the Green Man
Policewoman Beaton 19997 on Saturday at the newly installed traffic lights at Camp and Regent Streets, Georgetown, guides pedestrians on how to cross safely.
The Traffic Police are doing this following much confusion among pedestrians as to when they must cross the road and when they must wait.
(Guyana Cronicle/Cullen-Bess Nelson photo)
President Jagdeo on Kadir affair:
I gather the linkages are in T&T
President Bharrat Jagdeo, speaking to the Trinidad Guardian newspaper in that country, said his government will assist in extraditing alleged terrorist, former Opposition MP Abdul Kadir, if the need arises. Kadir was one of three men, including Trinidadian Kareem Ibrahim, arrested yesterday for plotting to blow up a fuel line supplying JFK International Airport in New York.
Said Jagdeo: “I suppose if the issue of extradition comes up, we will co-operate. We are working to get to the bottom of it. We are fully on the side of the US.”
In T&T for the CARICOM Agriculture Donor Conference taking place at Crowne Plaza, Port-of-Spain, Jagdeo said he was unaware of the details of the arrests, but that on Friday, US Ambassador Roy Austin had requested a meeting with him.
He said he learned from Austin that Guyanese nationals were involved “in some plot at the JFK. “I did not have the details,” he said, assuring that there were no Guyanese linkages to the overall plot. “There are no linkages at home. “I gather the linkages are in T&T.”
He also said Kadir was not a government official, but a former Opposition MP from Linden who ceased to be a member about two years ago. Asked whether he felt West Indians travelling to the US would be subject to greater immigration checks and tougher emigration laws as a result of news of this plot, Jagdeo replied:
“I hope there is no paranoia. It’s one person. It’s not as if it’s a trend. We are hoping there is no adverse reaction.” (Guyana Cronicle)
'My father is not a terrorist…
It's like a bad dream', says Abdul Kadir’s daughter Sauda
One of Abdul Kadir’s nine children, his daughter Sauda, has expressed shock at the report of her father being involved in terrorist activities.
Speaking from the family home yesterday, Sauda said in an interview, “We heard about the charges through the CNN press conference. We initially heard late Friday night, early Saturday morning.” She said her father was invited to an Islamic conference in Iran for the 3rd June, yesterday.
He booked his ticket to go to Trinidad and then to Venezuela where he was to uplift his Iranian visa and then proceed on to Iran. He was arrested in Trinidad on the flight going to Venezuela.” “They held him in Trinidad and the next thing is the press conference on the television.
Asked if they were shocked at this development Sauda reacted , “Shock! That is an understatement There are no words to describe what our family felt when we heard the news. And not only or family but all those who have been associated with my family. Right now it’s like a bad dream and we jut want to wake up.”
When the Chronicle visited the family most of the nine Kadir children were under the house thinking of the dilemma facing their father. When asked about her mother going to Trinidad as reported in the media, Sauda quipped “My mom is actually...We have representatives there (in Trinidad).”
During, the interview Mrs Isha Kadir came out and was on her front verandah speaking to a family friend. Questioned on someone who would have visited her father about two weeks ago and if he had any connection with those being held, Sauda said,“The three gentlemen we do not know them.
I think one of them visited Guyana on numerous occasions, and he did meet with my dad. I think they were basically working to build a another masjid in Linden She said all the persons who had dealings with her father, interacted with him when he was Mayor of Linden and as a Member of Parliament, they would know what kind of persons he is. “Strict.”
She said “he always taught us to be respectable in everything we do. We are shocked and surprised at what is happening.” According to Sauda, “We don’t know what is happening, we are asking God to guide us and help us through.”
On other matters relating to the men in question, Sauda said her father’s lawyers advised them not to speak on the subject at the moment. She maintained, “All I know is that my father is a disciplined Muslim and my father is not a terrorist. Has never planned or intended to plan any terrorism. That’s what I know. All of this now about what my father us planning is utter nonsense. He is not that kind of person. (Guyana Cronicle)
June 03, 2007
Guyana ready to cooperate with U.S. in terror plot probe
Alledged mastermind: Russell DeFreitas (left)
Former MP: Abdul Kadir (right)
The Government of Guyana yesterday said it stands ready to cooperate with the United States Government and its agencies if such a request is made following the arrest of three Guyanese for conspiring to commit terrorism at the John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport in New York.
Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee said the news was “a very serious development,” noting that “one can very well imagine if this crime was committed the amount of loss of lives and property that would have resulted.”
The government, in a statement, said it had received the “shocking news” that the three Guyanese -- Abdul Kadir, Russel De Freitas and Abdel Nur -- were held for planning to blow up, along with another person, a jet fuel supply that feeds from New Jersey to the JFK airport, as well as a fuel storage tank at the airport.
The government said it is a partner in the fight against global terrorism and will cooperate will all countries in pursuance of this objective.
Mr. Rohee denied reports that Mr. Kadir was an official of the government, but pointed out that “he served as a Parliamentarian for the opposition People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) in the eighth Parliament of Guyana.”
“This latest development brings into sharper focus the need for greater cooperation among countries in the fight against international terrorism,” the government stated, reiterating its “principled position that the fight against international terrorism is for the benefit of all mankind.”
Rohee said the incident was also an “important political development” and said the opposition PNCR “must take note of this”. (Guyana Cronicle)
June 02, 2007
Cocaine and cream
The cream containers along with the suspected cocaine.
Three persons are in custody at the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) headquarters after they allegedly attempted to post almost 72 grammes of cocaine to London by cutting open jars of cocoa butter and crystal crown cream and placing the illegal substance in them.
According to CANU, at about 2 pm yesterday they were summoned to the Guyana Post Office Corporation where a woman and her daughter were attempting to post six jars of cream to an address in London. The box also contained a t-shirt.
Officers were immediately suspicious as it is not normal for persons to post things like cocoa butter to London. Upon close examination it was revealed that the outer part of the small cream jars were cut away, the contents removed and small plastic bags placed inside. After the woman and her daughter were arrested the daughter told the officers that a man in Subryanville had given her the parcel to post.
The officers visited the address and a man was arrested. Following further investigation they went to an address in Hadfield Street where some cream jars were found along with latex gloves, crazy glue and some documents. The three are likely to be charged shortly. (Stabroek News)
NBS $70M fraud Director/Secretary, managers charged
Kent Vincent Kissoon Baldeo Marice Arjoon
Three senior managers of the New Building Society (NBS) were yesterday charged by Police with conspiracy to defraud millions of dollars in funds from a member of the society, the NBS Board of Directors said.
Those charged were Director/Secretary, Mr. Maurice Arjoon, Operations Manager, Mr. Kent Vincent and Assistant Mortgage Manager, Mr. Kissoon Baldeo.
NBS said the three have since been sent on “administrative leave” and the Board of Directors has put in place interim management arrangements to continue the smooth operations of the society. The NBS Board of Directors also assured the public that this development will in no way affect the interests of members of the society. The three appeared yesterday afternoon before Magistrate Gordon Gilhuys and were each allowed $2M bail.
Arjoon, of Lot 1-2 La Fleur Road, Eccles, East Bank Demerara; Vincent of Lot 1247 Canje Pheasant Lane, South Ruimveldt, Georgetown; and Kissoon Baldeo, 38, of Lot 86 Zeeburg, West Coast Demerara, were not required to plead to any of the charges.
It is alleged that last November 1, Arjoon and Vincent at NBS Limited, Avenue of the Republic, conspired with each other and other persons, to effect a withdrawal of $15M from the Save and Prosper account in the name of Bibi Khan at NBS Limited with two cheques -- one for $10,225,000 in the name of M. Kryshun Dayal and one for $4,775,000 in the name of Compton Chase.
Particulars of another charge said that last November 17, Kissoon and Vincent at NBS, allegedly conspired together and with others, to effect a withdrawal of $22.6M from the same Save and Prosper account of Khan in two cheques -- one for $20.5M in the name of M. Hussain and $2,164,000 in the name of Compton Chase.
Police said the two again on November 17 last, conspired with others to effect withdrawal of $20.5M from the same account in the name of Khan in two cheques -- one for $10.2M in the name of M. Hussain and the other in $10.3M in the name of Danniram.
Arjoon and Vincent are on another charge which said that on December 8, 2006, they conspired with each other to effect a withdrawal of $32,230,384 from the same account in the name of Khan. One of the cheques was for $14,430,384 in the name of G. Ramoutar and $17.8M in the name of Danniram, Police said. The three are due back in court on June 7.
Arjoon was represented by attorney-at-law Mr. Bernard DeSantos, Baldeo by Mr. Anil Nandalall and Vincent by Mr. Basil Williams.
Meanwhile, the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), in a statement yesterday, called on the privately-owned Kaieteur News to correct statements in an article on page 10 of its Thursday edition under the caption ‘Police probe $69M fraud at NBS’.
The Kaieteur News article stated that the money was reportedly siphoned from the GPHC, something the hospital categorically denied as untrue. The GHPC wishes to categorically state that it is not this institution.” The theft of the money from NBS is an unfortunate incident and the need to bring the perpetrators to justice is understood. However, information which may aid in this, must be factual,” GHPC said. (Guyana Cronicle)
June 01, 2007
Court told
Delroy Sandy
A man accused of pushing his reputed wife in front of a truck at Mc-Doom causing her death on Indepen-dence Night was yesterday refused bail by Principal Magistrate Melissa Robertson-Ogle.
Delroy Sandy, 37, of 33 Agricola Public Road, East Bank Demerara was not required to plead to the capital offence of murder when he appeared at the Georgetown Magistrate's Court.
It is alleged that on May 26 at McDoom Public Road he murdered Carmen Nannan. It was reported that Sandy who was intoxicated cuffed his reputed wife to the face causing her to fall into the path of a truck which ran over her. She died on the spot.
The couple was said to be drinking at Paul's Beer Garden on the McDoom Public Road when an argument broke out between the two. The argument continued outside the shop when the man reportedly dealt the woman a cuff to the face which caused her to fall into the truck's path.
Sandy told the court that on the night of the incident he was asleep in his bed when his reputed wife of eleven months called him out to drink. He said "I was home sleeping good, good and she wake me up and told me she going to drink with the neighbour. I went sometime after her and met her and the neighbour drinking at Paul's Liquor Bar.
She then left and went outside and I went outside fifteen minutes after. I approach her on the road and I slap her on her face and I started walking back then I turn back and ask her for the house key. She gave it to me and I tried to embrace her, you know, to show that I was sorry for hitting her, but she turned away from me.
At the same time three persons were in the corner of the road and they were saying that they don't want to get into husband and wife problem. I turn around and she lay on the road, her head was facing me and I saw the truck coming but I couldn't do anything. It like she just lay down facing the traffic, when I turn toward the traffic I saw the truck run over her. I did not touch her, that's what happened."
Police prosecutor Desiree Fowler stated that the two apparently had an argument and he pushed her. Sandy replied saying "I did not push her, there were three other witnesses and I was drinking." The case was transferred to Court Six for June 21. (Stabroek News)