Absence of magistrate forces adjournment
Stabroek News
December 10, 2002
The absence of the presiding magistrate, Chandra Sohan, yesterday forced another adjournment to the Preliminary Inquiry into the charges of treason against Mark Benschop and Phillip Bynoe.
Lawyers for Benschop had been prepared yesterday to lead their defence, but they were informed that the magistrate had communicated that he would not be attending the proceedings. Upon further inquiry, they learnt that he had said he was suffering from the flu but would be prepared to attend court today.
Benschop's lawyers had elected to lead a defence, following the magistrate's decision last Monday to overrule their no-case submissions. They had been set to begin their case last Wednesday, however the magistrate was absent and the matter was adjourned for last Friday. When the hearing resumed there was no defence witness present and the matter had been fixed for continuance yesterday.
At yesterday's hearing before Principal Magistrate Cecil Sullivan, lead counsel for the defence, Basil Williams lamented this development, which he said hampered the ability of the defence to get its case off the ground. Further, he observed that it placed a great financial burden on the defence witnesses who he said had to travel from as far away as Kwakwani at great cost to themselves to attend the hearings.
Meanwhile Defence Counsel Mortimor Coddett bemoaned the fact that the depositions which were taken during the hearing were still not typed, in spite of direction by both the Chancellor and Chief Justice, with whom he had spoken about the matter.
And Williams noted that the magistrate at the last hearing on Friday had said that he was keeping the depositions in his personal custody. This he described as alarming, adding that should anything happen to the depositions they would have to go through the motions of the trial all over again.
The hearing is to continue today when the defence will begin its case.
