The preliminary inquiry into the charge of treason laid against Mark Benschop and Phillip Bynoe continued yesterday with the magistrate expressing impatience with the state's failure to provide more witnesses.
The court heard testimony from the second witness for the state, Inspector of Police Deonarine, who is stationed at the Criminal Investigations Department Headquarters and is attached to the homicide section. He was later subject to minimal cross examination by Benschop's defence.
Following cross-examination, Special Prosecutor, Sanjeev Datadin, revealed to the court that according to the instructions he had been given by the police, the two witnesses who had been scheduled to give evidence during the morning session could not be located. This did not sit well with members of Benschop's defence team who called upon the magistrate to either instruct Datadin to close his case or discharge the matter until the prosecution is genuinely ready to proceed.
Datadin said he would be willing to proceed with two other witnesses who were scheduled to appear for the afternoon session. But Senior Magistrate Chandra Sohan, said he was reluctant to wait for witnesses who might not materialise. He further admonished the prosecutor, noting that his commitment to the inquiry had caused a backlog of cases. And while he observed that the prosecution was not the sole cause for the delay in starting the inquiry, he instructed Datadin that now that it was underway, he expected to see more witnesses. The inquiry continues today.