State’s unreadiness to prosecute Bisram is ‘embarrassing’ – Minister Ramjattan
After fighting two long years to extradite murder accused ‘Marcus Bisram’ from the US to Guyana, Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan sees it as ‘embarrassing’ that the state is not fully ready to prosecute him.
Murder Accused: Marcus Bisram
Minister Ramjattan made these comments on the sidelines of an event yesterday at the Guyana Police Force’s Police Training Centre.
While he was not made aware of the hiccups being met in the murder case after it was explained by reporters, Minister Ramjattan pointed out that ‘it is rather embarrassing if that is what the behaviour is.’
Marcus Bisram is being accused of ordering a hit on a Berbice carpenter, Faiyaz Narinedatt, a guest at a party, which he hosted back in late 2016. Narinedatt was alleged to have been beaten by several men at the behest of Bisram.
He was pushed into the trunk of a car, taken to the Berbice public road, dumped and run over to make it appear as if it were a hit-and-run.
The long-awaited court battle commenced on November 21 when Marcus Bisram finally appeared to answer to the indictable charge.
But since then, several bumps in the court have led many to believe that the state prosecution is dilly-dallying with the charges.
Public Security Minister Khemraj Ramjattan
The state’s request for the case to be handled by way of Preliminary Inquiry was denied by the presiding Magistrate Alex Moore. He ruled in favour of a paper committal.
Further, the request by the state to postpone the matter until January 7, 2020 was also denied.
When the matter was recalled on December 9 for the state to present a full disclosure of the evidence against Bisram, Magistrate Alex Moore reported sick.
However, the matter was called before Magistrate Peter Hugh at the New Amsterdam Magistrate’s Court. But the case was further delayed as state prosecutor Stacy Gooding was a no-show in court.
It was reported that attempts were made to contact Gooding who is based at the office of the Director of Public Prosecution in Georgetown. But this proved futile forcing the Magistrate to adjourn the matter until December 16.
Minister Ramjattan said, “I have been publicly requesting the work of the Magistrates and Prosecutors to be enhanced so that we can get convictions…what you are telling me there is rather disheartening.”
Further, the Public Security Minister relayed that he will talk with the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Chancellor and Chief Justice in relation to what is happening with the case.
He explained that there should be no issues with the case since the state had enough time to build a strong case against the accused.
“It would be terribly embarrassing, entirely embarrassing for the state to have demanded his coming over and now that he is extradited, these officers are not up to the task of ensuring that they get the documents they need.”
I nominated the entire gang of the year 2019. 
