An attempt by a convicted drug trafficker to prevent the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) from appealing the Full Court judgment that allows him to appeal the ten-year sentence he is serving was thwarted after the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) refused to hear his application.
Vishnu Bridgelall called ‘Haffa’ moved to the CCJ earlier this month through his lawyer Sanjeev Datadin.
A release from the DPP described the move by Bridgelall and his lawyers as “an unprecedented application”, while adding that the October 11 application by the convict which attempted to prevent the Appeal Court from hearing an appeal filed by the state was “in utter repugnance of the laws.
“This attempt failed and Vishnu Bridgelall called ‘Haffa’ must now face the appeal by the state.”
Giving a background of the case Bridgelall is convicted of, the press release said he was charged by the Customs Anti Narcotics Unit (CANU) with the offence of trafficking in 106.5 kilogrammes of cocaine concealed in fish glue.
The case was heard by Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs at the Vigilance Magistrate’s Court and he was convicted. He subsequently appealed his conviction to the Full Court, which allowed the appeal “despite legal submissions made by the state.”
The state then sought leave of the Guyana Court of Appeal to appeal the decision of the Full Court and this leave was granted.
No appeal has been heard by the Guyana Court of Appeal as yet, and there therefore is no decision to be appealed. “[However] Counsel for Vishnu Bridgelall called Haffa made an application to the Caribbean Court of Justice, to appeal the leave that was granted by the Guyana Court of Appeal, to the state,” the release said.
According to the DPP, the move was an “an attempt to use the Caribbean Court of Justice to prevent the Guyana Court of Appeal from hearing the appeal, thereby undermining the authority of the Guyana Court of Appeal.
“No law makes provision for such an application to be made to the Caribbean Court of Justice and so this valiant attempt failed and the application was refused by the Caribbean Court of Justice consisting of five judges.”
In May of 2007 Bridgelall, of 90 Second Street, Alberttown along with Thakoor Persaud, called ‘Thaks’, 32, of Lot K Soesdyke and Azad Khan, called ‘Waqar’, 32, of 6 Madewini, both on the East Bank Demerara, were jointly charged with two counts of possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking. Another accused, Chandrika Chattergoon, had pleaded guilty when the case was first heard and was sentenced to four years each on two counts of possession of narcotics for the purpose of trafficking.
Bridgelall, Persaud and Khan went to trial and while the charges against the others were dismissed he was sentenced to ten years in prison in November of the same year.
On May 16, 2007, CANU officers had raided a house in Enterprise where they found the four men. During a search of the premises, 86.5 kg of cocaine was found and an additional 20 kg was discovered hidden in the fish glue. The police also found a quantity of scissors, rolling pins, knives, a gas cylinder and the mesh on which the fish glue was placed to dry.
