The three men who were allegedly caught smuggling gold into Suriname, appeared yesterday before Chief Justice Ian Chang after attorney-at-law Nigel Hughes filed a writ of habeas corpus.
Police then obtained a legal extension to hold Isaac Sarjoo, Richard Sarjoo and Roy Arjune beyond the required 72-hour period and that extension expires today, when they are likely to appear in the Magistrate’s Court, if charged. The men were apprehended by Surinamese authorities when they allegedly attempted to smuggle gold into that country.
Hughes told Stabroek News yesterday that he had received reports that the men were harshly treated while in custody and even though the police had sought an extension for their detention the men had not yet been questioned.
However during yesterday’s in-chamber session, the men said they were not beaten or otherwise harshly treated by the police, Hughes said.
Police held the men on their return from Suriname and had said they were being questioned in relation to the alleged illegal export with a view to determining whether the gold they were found with was stolen during the Bartica killings.
The men were not deported from Suriname.
A police source told this newspaper yesterday that the force has not yet determined whether the gold had come from the Bartica siege, but added that while this was one line of enquiry, it was not the only one.
On February 17, when gunmen stormed Bartica, they had first attacked the police station where three policemen were shot and killed.
They then went to the CB&R Mining Company where they shot and killed a security guard and stole 12 guns, a quantity of gold and some petty cash, which was in an iron safe. Neither CB&R Owner Chunilall Baboolall nor the police had ever revealed to this newspaper the amount of gold stolen.
The gunmen had also destroyed security cameras at the location.
They then proceeded to the home of gold dealer Gurudat Singh, from where, it was reported, they escaped with a safe. A source told this newspaper that the gunmen would have taken a large quantity of gold from this home.
The gold that was taken from the men has been confiscated by the Dutch authorities, though it is not the property of Suriname. This newspaper understands that the men told Surinamese authorities that they had purchased the gold in Guyana but had carried it over the border since they got more money for the mineral there.
Suriname sources said the men were being held for some time before the authorities decided on their course of action. They were then taken to court where they were fined.
This newspaper was also reliably informed that the gold, which the authorities intercepted, might not have been the full booty and that more of the mineral had missed the authorities’ vigilance on that day.
The source informed Stabroek News too that the smuggling of gold to Suriname was a regular occurrence and this was possible because some gold and diamond dealers continue to be dishonest in their declaration of production.
(Heppilena Ferguson)
