The Presidential Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the March 2020 elections on Wednesday heard that the Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), former Justice Claudette Singh did not implicate former Deputy Chief Elections Officer, Roxanne Myers during her testimony.
“…We see nothing in it (evidence) where she makes any comment or says anything that implicates your client,” Chairman of the Commissioner, retired Justice Stanley John informed Myers’ attorney, Nigel Hughes.
“She says nothing about her,” Justice John insisted.
Public hearings into the COI were set aside Wednesday for Hughes to cross-examine witnesses who had previously implicated Myers in the events which unfolded following the March 02, 2020 elections, mostly during the tallying of the votes.
Hughes had listed Singh among six witnesses he wanted to cross-examine.
But instead of cross-examining Singh, the Commission told Hughes that the majority of the questions he wished to ask surrounding her testimony ought to be answered by GECOM Commissioner, Sase Gunraj.
Gunraj was initially scheduled to be cross-examined Wednesday morning but for some reason, he could not be present. As a result, his attendance was referred to Thursday morning.
“…The Chairman did testify that she became aware that Commissioner Gunraj had said that Miss Myers had blocked him from attending part of the building,” Hughes told the CoI.
However, in response, Justice John told him, “We have asked Mr. Gunraj to attend so that you can address that.”
During the cross-examination, Hughes was constantly upbraided by the Commissioners and Senior Counsel, Sophia Chote, as they were forced to remind Hughes that his role before the CoI allows him to only ask questions pertaining to Myers.
“…With all due respect to my friend, my friend is here to ask the witnesses questions pertaining to the role of his client and not to embark upon a mission about the laws of Guyana, about matters which affect other persons who have come before this commission and said they wish to exercise their right to silence,” Chote told the Commission.
“…I will ask the Commission to ask my friend to have his questioning directed at those matters which are relevant to his client,” she added.
The Chairman of the Commission agreed with Chote. “Mr Hughes…the whole purpose of this exercise this morning is that you asked for certain persons to be here. The persons who testified before and who may have made statements that incriminated your client in some way,” Justice John told Hughes.
“So could we focus on that please,” Justice John further asked.
A total of four witnesses, who had previously given evidence before the Commission were Wednesday cross-examined by Hughes. They included Assistant Commissioner of Police, Edgar Thomas; GECOM IT Manager, Aneal Giddings; Rosalinda Rasul, who served as an elections observer for the American Chamber of Commerce Guyana (AmCham) and Assistant Registration Officer of GECOM, Alexandra Sophia Bowman.
In light of this, the Commission pointed out that persons who appeared before the Inquiry and chose to remain silent have lost the opportunity to clear their name.
Myers was among more than ten persons including GECOM officials who were summoned to testify before the Commission but chose to invoke her right to remain silent. A number of these individuals are currently facing charges stemming from their alleged involvement in the manipulation of the election results.
I think we can all recognize dat de riggin crew was totally innocent of all accusations and the following was a figment of every persons imagination;
1) There was no spreadsheets
2) There was no bedsheets
3) There was no flashdrives
4) There was no falsely signed declarations
5) There was no recount
6) There was no yelling, bawling and screeching
It turns out all was false …….except for “Jumbies”……..which were everywhere.