Donald Rodney, the brother of slain WPA Leader Dr Walter Rodney, will mount a vigil from tomorrow outside of the Guyana Court of Appeal for a date of the hearing of his appeal against his 1982 conviction for the possession of explosives.
That conviction which stemmed from the death of his brother in the June 13, 1980 explosion, had always being challenged as trumped up to fit the narrative of the day for the death of Dr Rodney.
In a statement today, Donald Rodney said that tomorrow he will be mounting a vigil outside of the Court of Appeal building, High Street, Kingston, as action for a date to be fixed for his appeal in the Court of Appeal to proceed, and calling for a thorough probe into the previous, unlawful High Court hearing which purported to dismiss his appeal to the 1982 conviction. He said that the vigil will be held one day per week in the first instance.
In connection with the matter, he is also launching an ‘I am Walter Rodney” petition to be signed and submitted to the Court of Appeal Registry and the Chancellor.
An abbreviated version of his press release follows:
Hearing date not set
On May 23, 2019 the Court of Appeal ordered that my appeal against the 1982 conviction for possession of explosives be allowed to proceed, but as of now a date is not set for this. The latest position of the Court Registry, upon my enquiry, is that it is “not satisfied” with trial records in its possession.
On October 14, 2019 I was promised that the Registry would “contact” me that day, or the following. To date, over a month later, there has been no such contact despite a letter to the senior registry officer pointing this out, and requesting a date to be set. This was the second letter to the Registry, as follow-up to previous visits, asking for a hearing date.
Unlawful High Court hearing
On May 23, 2019 the Court also ordered that the High Court appeal hearing purporting to dismiss my appeal against the 1982 conviction was unlawful for lack of jurisdiction. This is serious since in addition to that unlawfulness, neither I nor a representing attorney-at-law were notified beforehand or present at the hearing. Yet two senior judges, in the presence of the prosecution staged, effectively, a secret hearing and dismissal of my appeal. Last year I had previously written the Supreme Court Registrar, Ms Sueanna Lovell, requesting the name(s) of those purporting to file my appeal, but without response. Thus no explanation has ever been offered by the court or the office of the DPP for this unlawful episode. This exposes a grave flaw in the judicial system of Guyana.
It is against this background that I am mounting the vigil. I also attach a narrative written by me and circulated to “friends and supporters” of the Walter Rodney legacy.
