11 women fined for illegal entry, overstaying after Bartica raid

Eleven women, comprising four Colombians, two Venezuelans and five Dominicans, were yesterday fined for illegal entry and overstaying in Guyana.

The 11 women who were fined yesterday.
The 11 women who were fined yesterday.

The woman were among the over two dozen who were held after a raid was conducted early Sunday morning in Bartica by Minister within the Ministry of Social Protection Simona Broomes. The charges against Franchelys Delas Nieves Torrealba Tores, Yeenia Paola Vasenia Ariza, Maria Eugenie Monsalve Rivera, Yourlenny Valderrana Hernandez, Mary Del Carmen Monsalve Rivera and Melanie Grace Cox Rodriguez stated that at Charity Essequibo, they entered Guyana by sea and disembarked without the consent of an immigration officer.

The remaining five women, Nagalu Infantie Perez, Genchi Valentina Perez, Natalie Tavaraz Acosta, Ana Christina Nejia and Carolina Taverez Acosta, were charged with overstaying in Guyana in periods between February 28 and May 22, 2015.

All eleven women appeared before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court 1 yesterday afternoon and they all pleaded guilty to the charges through an interpreter.

Asked their purpose in Guyana, most of them said they have boyfriends living in the country and they were visiting them, while one said that she was scheduled to get married to an individual here. The women were each fined $30,000 with an alternative of two weeks in jail.