Treason PI to resume today
...as defence witnesses unavailable
Stabroek News
February 4, 2003
The Preliminary Inquiry into the charges of treason against Mark Benschop and Phillip Bynoe resumed yesterday before Magistrate Chandra Sohan.
The hearing was however adjourned not so long after its commencement because of the unavailability of two defence witnesses. The hearing is now fixed to resume today.
Charles Smith, the witness currently under cross-examination, was absent yesterday because, according to lead defence counsel Basil Williams, he was of the belief that the magistrate would not be present at the hearing. Meanwhile, efforts to contact acting Crime Chief Leon Trim, who had been summon-ed to appear since December 17 last year, proved futile.
Since the beginning of this year the Inquiry has been postponed three times, twice owing to the illness of the magistrate who had contracted chicken pox.
Williams told Sohan that the witness, Smith, had been coming to the postponed hearings and had indicated that he felt sure that the magistrate would not be attending yesterday’s hearing. Defence attorney Mortimor Coddett then told the court that Trim had been summoned and he was ready to proceed with him.
However, Special Pro-secutor for the DPP Sanjeev Datadin informed the court that he had spoken with Trim who indicated that he would be attending a meeting of the utmost importance at the Ministry of Home Affairs and would make an effort to attend the court hearing afterwards.
Datadin meanwhile told the court that he intended to object to Trim’s testimony on the grounds of privilege, asserting that the decision to charge cannot be questioned. “The charge cannot be challenged in this court,” he said.
Coddett however interrupted, noting that these observations were premature and speculative. Further, he argued that when a man’s life is at stake nothing is privileg-ed. “There is no other authority in the land higher than the court,” Coddett stated, and de-manded that Trim be brought before the court or an arrest warrant be issued for him.
An adjournment was call-ed and Datadin, upon the ma-gistrate’s direction, attempted to contact Trim but to no avail.
When the hearing resumed the magistrate, on the bench, said he had a return of service to show that Trim was served with a summons. He ordered that both witnesses be produced before the court today when the hearing will continue.
