The decision as to whether the defendants in the Buddy’s fuel trial should be called upon to lead a defence was delayed yet again yesterday as Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) prosecutor Anil Nandlall sent a message to the court asking for more time to respond to the issues raised in the defence’s submissions.
Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry who is hearing the matter at the Providence Magistrate’s Court granted the adjournment stating that “I am not going to make a premature decision”.
Although Nandlall had already responded to the defence’s no-case submissions, he had failed to address particular issues that were raised and the magistrate had said that she would need this to be done before making her ruling.
The decision on the no-case submissions advanced by the defence was to have been handed down last Monday but when the matter was called the magistrate had stated that Nandlall had not responded to particular issues raised by the defence and out of an abundance of caution she would give him an opportunity to do so. The matter was then adjourned to yesterday.
When the matter was called yesterday defence counsel Vic Puran and Glen Hanoman were forced to wait as no representative of the GEA was present. Another of the energy agency’s attorneys Jaya Singh later arrived and she told the court that Nandlall was requesting an adjournment of 14 days.
The request prompted Puran to state that it was a “presumptuous application”, the granting of which he objected to. He stated that Nandlall had been given an opportunity to respond to the defence submissions. He added that his clients have their lives to go on with.
The magistrate in granting the adjournment stated that while the court wanted the matter to be completed, delays in the trial had been caused by both the defence and the prosecution. She said that Nandlall would have to respond to all the points raised in the defence’s submissions.
Previously, Nandlall in responding to the defence’s submissions had not addressed particular issues raised as he contended that there were specific and defined grounds upon which no-case submissions can be made and what must be addressed is the strength or weakness of the evidence adduced.
He had stated that several of the defence submissions had not addressed this and he would not respond to them unless the magistrate ordered him to do so.
Last September marked two years since the alleged illegal fuel was discovered in a GEA operation.
The agency said that acting on information received officials visited the Buddy’s Farm around 10 pm on September 27, 2005. When they arrived, the ten defendants were seen offloading fuel from a trawler named Ashley S into drums.
A fuel tanker, it is alleged, was already filled. Tests were carried out on the said fuel and it was allegedly found to be illegal.
Arrested and charged were Deonarine Singh of 104 Collingswood, Nandy Park, EBD; Wazir Mohamed of 28 North Road, Bourda; Clement Huntley of 39 Wisroc, Linden; Fitzgerald London of 494 Canvas City, Linden; Sanicharran Ramgolam of Number 64 Village, Corentyne; Ceezann Vandelwin of the Pomeroon River; Errol Prince of 43 Garnett Street, Kitty; Joseph Allen of Diamond Squatting Area, EBD; Ramsahai Basdeo of Lot 101 Cornelia New Housing Scheme and Osbern Richards of Supenaam, Essequibo Coast.
They were jointly charged with possession of fuel without the relevant marking in the right proportion and possession of illegal fuel in a quantity exceeding 2,000 litres without a licence
The trial of the ten accused and the trial of businessman Omprakash `Buddy’ Shivraj on whose property the alleged illegal fuel was found, have been merged.
