President Irfaan Ali on Monday declined to comment on whether he will be asking his National Border Patrol Director Daniel Seeram to step down from office in light of his recent conviction.

Seeram, the former Region 4 Regional Chairman, was earlier this month convicted by Magistrate Abigail Gibbs of assaulting his ex-wife back in September 2023. His sentencing has been set for November 2, 2026.

Since his guilty verdict on October 2, the Government has been silent on the issue.

Though a High Court Judge last Monday upheld the decision of Magistrate Gibbs to have Seeram remanded to prison pending his sentencing, he was only handed over to the prison authorities by the police last Friday amid a public outcry.

Under the Constitution, the President has the power to offer clemency to convicts. However, today, he told reporters he has not conditioned his mind to addressing that specific issue. 

“I am not even in that space as yet. This is a president who has always acted in the confines of the law. I believe in that…You are even outside of my scope of thinking at the moment,” he said.

Seeram has since moved to the Court of Appeal to challenge the decision of the High Court to dismiss his application for Judicial Review.

Through his attorney Nigel Hughes, Seeram argues that Justice Joy Persaud-Singh erred in law when she found that Magistrate Gibbs possessed the lawful authority to remand him prior to receiving and considering the contents of several reports. Those reports include the probation report, and the aggravating and mitigating reports, as well as the impact statement.

Seeram is also challenging Magistrate’s Gibbs guilty verdict. In the court documents seen by News Source, Seeram argues that the decision “is unreasonable and cannot be supported having regard to the evidence.”

He said the Magistrate failed to adequately address the issue of “self-defense” in the confines of the law.

Magistrate Gibbs, in handing down her decision said Seeram was evasive on material issues and professed the inability to understand certain questions put to him while under cross examination.

The Court also found that the evidence or explanation presented to the Court by the Defence was inconsistent with regards to how the victim sustained her injuries.

Seeram has asked the Appellate Court to reverse the entire decision, and have it set aside.

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