The PI into the advocacy of a terrorist act charge against Oliver Hinckson was once again adjourned for the prosecution to reply to the defence.
Meanwhile there has been no mention of the sedition charge against the ex-army officer.
When the case was called on Friday morning specially-appointed prosecutor, attorney-at-law Sanjeev Datadin was not present in the court but Magistrate Gordon Gilhuys chose to move ahead with the case after stating that the prosecutor or the DPP’s office should have contacted the court to offer an explanation for the prosecutor’s absence.
He said that this was showing undue disrespect for the court.
Datadin said he was occupied earlier at the Court of Appeal when he put in an appearance later in the morning in the midst of the continuation of evidence being given by Detective Sergeant Trevor Reid.
Attorney-at-law Vic Puran, one of the lawyers representing Hinckson, made several objections during Reid’s evidence but only one was heeded by Gilhuys.
Puran said that all evidence taken after the first 72 hours, when Hinckson was in custody before being charged, has no validity since it was an infringement of Hinckson’s constitutional rights.
He made citations to that effect and the case was adjourned so that Datadin can ably reply on the next date.
Hinckson was charged on March 11 for advocating the commission of a terrorist act and uttering seditious statements which stemmed from a statement he made during a press conference at City Hall.
He then appeared at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court before Principal Magistrate Melissa Robertson-Ogle and since his incarceration his lawyers have been using different avenues to fight for bail but with no success.
The preliminary inquiry began with testimony from Government Information Agency Editor-in-Chief Michael Gordon.
However, he did not get far in his testimony as the defence lawyers continuously objected to the line of questioning by Police Prosecutor Robert Tyndall.
The case was further stalled after Tyndall repeatedly requested adjournments to seek advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions. On May 2 Datadin was appointed special prosecutor.
The matter comes up again tomorrow.
