Guyana: Electoral fraud trial to begin on July 29

After a three-year postponement, the trial of alleged election fraud by former senior officials of Guyana’s electoral body will now begin on July 29 before city magistrate Leron Daly.

The trial has suffered numerous delays, but can now begin following a ruling by Chief Justice Roxane George.

She ruled that the constitutional rights of former Chief Election Officer Keith Lowenfield and his deputy Roxanne Myers to a fair trial would not be violated by the Representation of the People Act, which prohibits disclosure of meetings of the Guyana Election Commission (GECOM).

With this statement Daly was given the green light to proceed with the hearing and determination of the 28 criminal charges related to the 2020 election.

The case was arraigned on Wednesday Daly at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court for reports.

During the hearing, Special Prosecutor Darshan Ramdhani, QC, confirmed that the case is ready to proceed.

The hearings are scheduled for July 29-31 and August 5-6.

Some of the witnesses expected to testify include Local Government Minister Sonia Parag, Diaspora Unit head Rosalinda Rasul, former Region Four police commander Edgar Thomas, and forensic investigator Rawle Nedd.

The prosecution has already submitted certified copies of Statements of Poll (SoPs) and Statements of Recount (SoRs), video interviews and several other documents.

The defendants are accused of inflating or facilitating the inflation of results for Region Four, the country’s largest constituency, to falsely give the APNU+AFC coalition a majority win.

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) was ultimately declared the winner of the elections, leading to the swearing-in of Dr. Irfaan Ali as President of Guyana.