Guyana Chronicle
May 19, 2001

CHIEF Magistrate Paul Fung-A-Fat yesterday withdrew the arrest warrant he had issued for controversial television talk show host Ronald Waddell.

Mr Fung-A-Fat told his packed courtroom that the conditions for Waddell's bail had been met and there was no procedural error which caused the issue, hours after the Channel Nine TV host was released on $1M recognisance Tuesday.

When the case was called again yesterday, Police Inspector Fay Bremner said she was advised that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) will be appointing a special prosecutor to handle the matter.

She, however, asked for a postponement to facilitate amendments to the charges of sedition and incitement to commit murder against Waddell and other television personality Mark Benschop.

Waddell was charged Tuesday with two counts of sedition while Benschop faced another allegation, of incitement to commit murder, as well.

Earlier in the week, attorney-at-law Mr Nigel Hughes argued that, under Sections 1 and 2 of the Criminal Law (Offences) Act, there was and has never been any such charge as incitement to commit murder.

The lawyer also stressed that the words spoken by Benschop on his April 9 and 11 programmes are statements of fact and do not amount to sedition.

Benschop was then ordered to find $500,000 surety but the sum was subsequently reduced to $200,000.

Both he and Waddell have to be back in Court on June 7.

The sedition charge, conviction on which is punishable by the maximum life imprisonment, has not been laid against anyone for decades.

Two dead former People's Progressive Party (PPP) parliamentarians, Fred Bowman and Harry Lall, each faced the accusation, the former in the 1950s and the latter in the 1960s while that party was in power before independence.

In both instances, the accused were freed.