‘This is obviously long overdue’, Donald Rodney says, as conviction is overturned after four decades 

Donald Rodney, 69, on Tuesday afternoon expressed relief that a conviction that tied him to an explosion that killed his brother, Dr Walter Rodney almost 41 years ago, has finally been overturned.

The Court of Appeal set aside the conviction that Donald Rodney was in possession of a walkie-talkie containing an explosive device that killed his brother outside of the Georgetown Prison on June 13, 1980.

“I would say it is obviously long overdue and I welcome it,” Rodney told the News Room in a telephone interview shortly after the ruling.

Rodney was convicted in 1982 but was out on bail and has lived and worked in the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and Africa.

He qualified as a lawyer in 2009 in Trinidad and started practising two years later. He has not been able to practice in Guyana. But now that the conviction has been overturned, he said he plans to start the process to get admitted to the bar and practice here.

Donald Rodney returned to Guyana permanently in 2017, spending all the time since in pursuing his appeal. He was represented in the appeal by attorney-at-law, Sanjeev Datadin.