Treason accused freed

The three persons accused of treason was today freed of charges, despite special prosecutor, Vic Puran’s assertion that the matter is “far from over’.
Those freed are Major Bruce Munroe, his wife Carol and a former Reserve Officer, Leonard Wharton, after a decision of insufficient evidence to face trail by a judge and jury was ruled out by Chief Magistrate, Priya Sewnarine Beharry .
The trio who were accused between December 1, 2009 adnd December 16, 2010, of intending to step a war aimed at forcing the President out of his office, in order to compel the Guyana Government to change its measures, were arrested in 2010.
Major Munroe and Wharton both credited his legal victory to the Almighty according to a source from Demerara Waves online.

Photo complements of Demerara Waves online


Magistrate Sewnarine-Beharry agreed with the Defence's no-case submissions and she cited precedents in other countries to disagree with the prosecution's application for the particulars of the charge to be amended to include reference to an overt act.
The matter to re open the Preliminary Inquiry in the case is now left to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Shalimar Hack.

Two-month old baby dies after being struck in the head

A two month old baby boy, succumbed on Tuesday afternoon, after he was reportedly hit in the head with a utensil, during a “fight” between his parents. The inclident occurred at their Lot 78 Le Resouvenir, East Coast Demerara home.

According to reports, reaching Erika’s newspost, the couple, who are know alcoholics, were involved in a squabble around 1:30pm, when the child’s father while attempting to strike the mother with a kitchen utensil ‘accidentally’ hit the child who was in his mother’s arms.

According to sources after the child was hit in the head, he was dropped from the mother’s hands, since she too received blows with the utensil.

The child was rushed to the Georgetown Public hospital by a villager and died just after 5pm the said day.
The woman was later arrested after she went into hiding , while police continue to hunt for the infant’s father who is also on the run.

2012 National Budget to be presented on March 30

The 2012 National Budget will be presented to the National Assembly on Friday March 30, according Prime Minister Samuel Hinds

During a sitting of parliament on Wednesday, Mr Hinds moved a motion for the house to meet on March 30, when the estimates will be presented by Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh.
Earlier, the Government’s spokesman Dr Roger Luncheon told a news conference that cabinet was assured by the finance minister that all plans were in place for the month-end presentation of the annual financial estimates.

“Cabinet was advised about the readiness the, [and] preparedness of the finance minister and his technical teams, who have been finalizing preparations that begun administratively since August of 2011, with the issuance of the budget circular,” Luncheon said.
According to Luncheon, budget is constitutionally due within 90 days of the commencement of the fiscal year.

The National Budget which was usually presented by the end of February every year, was delayed after the Opposition political parties of A Partnership for national Unity (APNU) and Alliance For Change (AFC) who holds a one-seat majority in parliament, called for consultation on the estimates to ensure that their contributions to the estimates are considered.

Gunned down businessman linked to discovery of cocaine at airport

A businessman was gunned down, execution style on Friday evening, while imbibing at a popular nightspot in Eccles, East Bank Demerara.
Dead is Leonard Mahadeo of Third Street, Diamond, East Bank Demerara, who was killed by masked men who invaded the nightspot with AK47s and riddled Mahadeo with bullets. The Gunmen, reportedly left in what some eyewitnesses say was a grey Premio car, which wore no license number plate.
The Police has since acknowledged that the businessman who have been fingered in several drug busts, but were released after poor evidence; might have been linked to the botched export of several kilogrammes of cocaine that were found on the tarmac of the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.

“Two men armed with firearms exited from a motor car and discharged several rounds at Mahadeo which struck him about his body. The men escaped in the motor vehicle,” police PRO, Ivelaw Whittaker said in a statement.
Several persons have since been questioned in relations to the murder.
According to the police, Mahadeo was one of several persons who had been charged in 1996 following a joint probe by Guyanese police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, but was never convicted.
In 2008, Mahadeo narrowly escaped execution when a gunman discharged several rounds at him as he had been leaving the Bahama Breeze Nightspot.

Father and son charged with piracy

Dawanand Jagdai, a Leguan resident and has three sons have been arrested and charged with hijacking and piracy, after a fisherman positively identified an outboard engine as his property.
A press release from the Police Public Relations Office, Ivelaw Whittaker confirmed that the man and his three sons, Parmanand Jagdai, 25 years; Suresh Jagdai, 24 years; and Narendra Jagdai, 17 years, appeared before Magistrate Leron Daly at the Suddie Magistrates’ Court on March 16 and were remanded to prison until April 30.

“One of the fishermen who was a victim of the recent pirate attacks at the mouth of the Pomeroon River positively identified one of the engines to be his property that was stolen during the incident,” the statement said.
Police officers conducted a search to the home, on March 3 and found two 15 horsepower outboard engines. However, Jagdai was unable to produce a receipt for one of the engines and the receipt for the other appeared to be forged.
They were then charged for unlawful possession of the engines.
Since the commencement of the year, several fishermen were victims of piracy, and have called on the Government to put mechanism in place to safeguard their livelihoods.
Subsequent to this, Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon announced that mechanism have been put in place, to which the Coast Guards have collaborated with the Ministries of Agriculture and Home Affairs to ‘beef up’ communication at sea.

Many families have lost their loved-ones as a result of piracy, a trade (fishing sector), which contributes approximately 3 percent to the national GDP with a growth of 7.4 percent from 2009 to 2011, according to the Fisheries Department.