Opposition Members of Parliament Christopher Jones and Annette Ferguson along with eight other persons walked out of the Georgetown Magistrates Court free of the charges of taking part in an illegal procession and obstructing a Peace Officer.

The dismissal of the charges came after Magistrate Rhondella Weever upheld the no-case submissions made by Attorneys Lyndon Amsterdam and Ronald Daniels.

The two Opposition MPs and the other persons were charged in April last year after they gathered outside the High Court for the ruling on the election petition case and later walked along Croal and Regent Streets upset with the ruling.

There was a separate charge against MP Annette Ferguson where it was alleged that on the same day she obstructed a Police Officer who was attempting to arrest one of the party’s supporters. That charge was also thrown out.

In handing down her decision, the Magistrate identified numerous conflicts in the testimony of the Police witnesses and also highlighted the lack of evidence to prove elements of the Offences.

The Magistrate noted that Police Commander Simon McBean admitted under Cross-Examination that the persons who had gathered in the vicinity of the High Court did not need a permit from him to do so and neither did they need a permit to walk along Croal Street or Regent Street after the ruling.

It was noted that the legislation requires the organizer of a procession to obtain a permit and not the individual participants in the procession.

The Court found that there was no evidence before the Court identifying an organizer.

In dealing with the charge of obstruction against MP Ferguson, the Magistrate noted the conflict in the evidence presented by two Police Officers as to what the Member of Parliament is alleged to have done that constituted an obstruction charge.

The two officers provided two different names to the Court of the person who was being arrested when the alleged obstruction was made.

The Magistrate threw out all of the charges. 

Since their initial arrests, the two Opposition Parliamentarians declared their innocence of the charges and claimed that the charges were all politically motivated.

Related posts:

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