UK Professor Audrey Butt-Colson gave the first testimony by audio visual link in the High Court yesterday as Justice Roxane George continued hearing an ongoing Amerindian land rights case.
The professor from Oxford University answered questions posed to her by attorney-at-law Nigel Hughes to establish her expertise as a witness in the case. Hughes is appearing as counsel for the applicant in the Akawaio and Arekuna Amerindian land rights case from the Upper Mazaruni District—Van Mendelson v the Attorney General.
Hughes, using the Evidence (Amendment) Bill 2008, had applied to the court for Professor Butt Colson to testify by audio-visual link. He secured the order last year to proceed and the trial continued yesterday with the professor joining via Skype.
Previously, efforts were made to have the professor testify but the necessary equipment were not in place including two laptop computers in addition to the large monitor installed in the courtroom by the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GT&T).
Professor Butt-Colson’s book, Land: The Case of the Akawaio and Arekuna People was tendered as evidence and she also testified to writing about 50 additional articles on the issue. She recalled conducting research in Guyana during the 1950s and later presenting and defending her thesis at Oxford University.
During the proceedings yesterday there were few audio interruptions, but the professor managed to testify. She will join the court via Skype again in April when the trial continues.
The case involves the Akawaio and Arekuna people from the Upper Mazaruni District who have sued the state over ancestral land occupation and rights.
