Georgetown: The Deputy Chief Elections Officer, Roxanne Myers, was Friday morning released on $300,000 bail when she appeared in the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts charged with two counts of the misconduct in public office and was not required to plea to the indictable offences.
The charges are in relation to her actions during the March 2, 2020 General and Regional Elections.
Myers was arraigned before the Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan, with her attorneys, Nigel Hughes and Ronald Daniels.
State Prosecutor Tarique Mohamed objected to bail being granted to Myers based on the seriousness of the offence and the fact that the police were unable to make contact with the defendant for over a month.
However, Chief Magistrate McLennan granted Myers bail in the sum of $150,000 on each charge, and the matter was adjourned to October 23, 2020.
Myers surrendered herself to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) on Tuesday after she was tipped off that the police were preparing to release a wanted bulletin for her, after she had been evading investigators for over a month.
During her interrogation she was asked 11 questions to which she replied, “I reserve my right to remain silent.”
She was not granted station bail and remains in police custody.
Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield is on $450,000 bail after he was placed before the court for alleged fraud and misconduct. His case has been adjourned to October 9.
The personal assistant to the chief elections officer, Duarte Hetsberger, was also questioned and placed on $100,000 bail.
Additionally, District Four Returning Officer Clairmont Mingo was in August placed on $600,000 bail on four charges of misconduct in public office pertaining to the March 2, 2020 Regional and General Elections.
The Guyana Police Force (GPF) has launched a ‘comprehensive’ investigation into all allegations of criminal misconduct in the aftermath of the 2020 elections.
With public trust in the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) significantly eroded following events at the last Regional and General Elections, President Irfaan Ali said an international Commission of Inquiry (CoI) will be appointed to probe the weaknesses of the elections body.
He maintained that an independent CoI would not be overreaching, as the aim of the exercise is to protect democracy and the will of the people.
“This is an independent CoI that goes there and looks at what took place not only on Election Day; it has to look at everything that took place. The world wants to know what took place,” the Head of State said.
The PPP/C Government came to power after GECOM took five months to declare the winner of the March 2, 2020 elections.
“This government is the beneficiary of the will of the people; this government is here because the will of the people spoke. This government is here because the people elected this government; we are not the beneficiary of any system,” he asserted.
While the CoI will produce recommendations to fix the system, it will not interfere with the election petitions filed by the APNU+AFC.
“The CoI has nothing to do with the actions filed; the judiciary will deal with that. That’s a separate arm of government; it cannot influence the judiciary,” the President said.
During a recent regional interview, Dr. Ali stated that the CoI was necessary to ensure the persons who attempted to obstruct democracy and the will of the people are held accountable for their actions.
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