Political activist granted $200,000 bail on Cybercrime charge

Opposition Political Activist and online talk show host, Kadackie Amsterdam was taken to Court this morning to face a cyber crime charge related to statements that were allegedly made by a caller on his online talk show.

In Court this morning, the the cybercrime charge was read to the accused, and after entering a not guilty plea to the charge of using a computer system to encourage or incite persons to commit a criminal offence against the President of Guyana, in contravention of the Cyber Crime Act, the presiding Magistrate, Faith McGusty, granted him bail in the sum of $200,000.

The Prosecutor had objected to the granting of bail for the offenses, but Amsterdam’s Attorneys reminded the Court that the offenses are bailable ones.

Attorney-at-Law, Nigel Hughes, who is representing Amsterdam told reporters outside the Courthouse that Amsterdam, who was in Police custody since Tuesday, was taken to Court without his legal representatives being informed and notified.

Mr. Hughes said that was done by the Police, although there were repeated efforts to get information from the Police about a time and date for appearance. He said his client was able to make contact with him after the Magistrate inquired whether he had legal representation. The Attorney also explained the nature of the charge.

“A single charge was read to him in relation to a programme he had, where a caller, and this is their particulars, a called called in, and that caller said that four persons in the Government should be gotten rid of. And after that, Kadackie specifically entered a disclaimer and he then said there are a lot of politicians we should see the back of. And that is essentially that they are relying on for this charge. The Police Prosecutor, Mandel Moore, objected to bail when we applied for bail and he said because of the prevalence of the offense, he should not get bail. The Court did not accede to his request and granted him bail in the sum of $200,000 and asked that he lodge his passport”, the Attorney explained.

The Guyana Police Force has since indicated that additional charges are expected to be filed against Amsterdam soon.

The Police Force is still to say whether it has been able to trace and make contact with the actual caller, who made the alleged threatening statements back in February. The Police would only say that its investigations are ongoing.