Justice Sherdel Isaacs yesterday upheld a 72-hour extension granted to the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to continue detaining security officer Mark Richmond in connection with the investigation into the March 2021 murder of Ricardo ‘Paper Shorts’ Fagundes.
The ruling means Richmond will remain in police custody until 1 pm today.
The extension was initially granted on Saturday by Senior Magistrate Sunil Scarce following an application by the police. Richmond was represented before the High Court by attorney-at-law Damien Da Silva.
Speaking with reporters after the hearing, Da Silva argued that the extension had been granted several hours before the police filed their application. He contended that at the time the application was filed, neither Richmond nor his attorneys had been shown the extension order or informed orally that it had been granted.
Da Silva further alleged that no entry recording the extension had been made in the station diary at the police station where Richmond was being held.
On Saturday afternoon, Richmond’s attorneys filed an application in the High Court seeking a writ of habeas corpus, contending that his continued detention was unlawful because he had neither been charged with an offence nor brought before a court more than 72 hours after voluntarily surrendering to investigators.
In the application against the Commissioner of Police, Richmond asked the court to order that he “be immediately placed before this Honourable Court” so that a judge could determine whether his detention was lawful.
According to the application, police ranks visited Richmond’s Bent Street, Werk-en-Rust residence on July 7 seeking to question him in relation to a criminal investigation. After speaking with his wife by telephone, Richmond informed the officers that he would report to the police in the company of his attorney.
The application states that Richmond, accompanied by Da Silva, presented himself at the Criminal Investigation Department Headquarters at Eve Leary on July 8, where he was detained.
His attorneys said he cooperated fully with investigators throughout the process and argued that Article 139(4) of the Constitution provides that a person shall not be detained for more than 72 hours without being brought before a court.
“The Police, at the time of the filing of this Application, have unlawfully and wrongfully detained Mark Richmond, for no justifiable or explainable reason,” the application states.
It further argues that Richmond’s detention became unlawful at about 1 pm on Saturday following the expiration of the constitutional 72-hour period.
The filing also states that Richmond “has not been charged for any criminal offence nor has he been placed before a Court of Law in Guyana.”
His attorneys further allege that since his detention Richmond has been “continuously transported and/or moved between the Criminal Investigation Department Headquarters at Vlissengen Road and the Kitty Police Station,” where he has been kept in lock-ups and subjected to “continuous questioning by the Police, predominantly in the absence of his Attorney-at-Law.”
The application contends that if investigators wish to continue probing Richmond’s alleged involvement in any criminal activity, they can do so without keeping him in custody, noting that he has “at all material times, been fully co-operative with members of the Guyana Police Force.”
Richmond’s detention was first disclosed on Thursday by Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed, who alleged that it was politically motivated. Mohamed said Richmond had voluntarily surrendered to investigators on Wednesday morning but had remained in custody without being questioned or informed of any charge.
Richmond was identified as a person of interest during the early stages of the investigation into the execution-style killing of Fagundes but was never arrested or charged.
Fagundes was shot dead on March 21, 2021, shortly after leaving Palm Court on Main Street, Georgetown, when gunmen armed with high-powered weapons intercepted his vehicle and opened fire. Although the killing triggered an extensive police investigation and later became the subject of public allegations that senior police officers had interfered with the probe, no one has been charged with his murder.
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