Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson-Ogle has reserved her decision regarding the new application for bail by the lawyers of ex-army officer Oliver Hinckson, until after September 24.
Hinckson’s attorneys made a fresh application for bail to the Acting Chief Magistrate last Wednesday. Nigel Hughes, one of Hinckson’s attorneys, had explained to the court that the petition made before Chief Justice Ian Chang in July had been withdrawn.
Hughes had explained to Magistrate Robertson-Ogle that no other court could now claim to have before it an application for bail and the petition made in July would have no effect on any new application or granting of bail made currently. Therefore, he said, he was making a new application for bail to be granted to his client.
Yesterday morning that application for bail was reiterated by Hughes. However, the magistrate informed him that Hinckson was already on bail.
To this Hughes replied that they wanted her to “reaffirm that Hinckson is on bail from” yesterday. “It is a reapplication and not related to that Friday in July when you granted bail,” Hughes stated to the magistrate.
Special Prosecutor Sanjeev Datadin objected to this application for bail giving his reasons as being the seriousness of the offence committed and stating that Hinckson was a flight risk. He repeatedly requested that the court’s discretion not be exercised in granting Hinckson bail.
Addressing these objections, Hughes stated that Chief Justice Ian Chang had granted Hinckson bail for the sedition matter and this in itself countered Datadin’s objection to bail because of the seriousness of the offence.
Further, with regard to Datadin’s claim that his client was a flight risk Hughes informed the court that during the firearm matter Hinckson had attended court every day after his return from the Unites States and therefore posed no flight risk.
Since being charged on March 11 with advocating the commission of a terrorist act and uttering seditious statements during a press conference at City Hall, the ex-army officer’s hopes of being granted bail have been dashed on a number of occasions.
After listening to the submissions, the magistrate informed the attorneys that she would reserve her decision until after September 24.
On this date, Justice William Ramlal should be giving his decision on the matter now before the High Court with regard to Magistrate Robertson-Ogle granting Hinckson bail on July 11.
One hour after Hughes repeated his application for bail, the cross-examination of Officer-in-charge of the Serious Crimes Investigations Unit within the Criminal Investigation Department, Trevor Reid, was continued.
Reid is the first witness to be cross-examined in the preliminary inquiry (PI) into the advocating a terrorist act charge against Hinckson.
Hinckson is to return to court this Friday for the continuation of the PI.
On the last occasion defence counsel Hughes had submitted to the court that on August 15 at approximately 8 pm his client was removed from the prison and taken to Police Headquarters, Eve Leary, then to the Brickdam Police Station and finally to the La Grange Police Station.
Hughes further reminded the court that when the remand warrant was signed his client was left in the sole custody of the Georgetown Prison and it was unlawful for the police to have moved him from there.
“Information has come to hand that his life is in danger,” Hughes told the court. He added that no reason has yet been given for his client being “moved around”. The defence counsel described this as an “…attempt to intervene and impact upon the trial.” If the police wanted to question Hinckson, Hughes stated, they needed to go to him.
