Dear Editor,
What did the Guyana Police Force achieve by detaining Tacuma Ogunseye for seventy-two hours? They did not even retrieve Ogunseye from the cells periodically to question him to get a ‘confession’. No attempt was made to change Mr. Ogunseye’s position on non-cooperative silence (his right) so why detain him? The simple answer is that the Constitution provides cover for this archaic practice.
In June 2022, the Minister of Legal Affairs, Hon. Anil Nandlall, made public the administration’s plan to introduce a ‘bail bill’ that proposed that once an offence does not carry a custodial sentence, the accused person must be offered their pre-trial liberty immediately at the police station, but should the offence be one that requires that the accused person be placed in the lock-up, the cap on the police’s discretion to detain is only 24 hours (one day) before they make an appearance before a Magistrate or released on bail. “The police may remand you, and if they do, then within 24 hours, you are to be taken [before] a Magistrate. No longer will they be allowed to detain you for up to 72 hours”. Bill No.14 of 2022 (The Bail Bill) was reportedly passed on November 8th, 2022.
Editor, given the detention of Ogunseye for 72 hours it would appear there is a slip betwixt cup and lip or some clarity needs to be provided by Minister Nandlall.
Sincerely,
Robin Singh
