Attorneys for Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed’s security officer, Mark Richmond have moved to the High Court seeking a writ of habeas corpus, arguing that his continued detention by police over the March 2021 murder of Ricardo `Paper Shorts’ Fagundes is unlawful as he has neither been charged nor brought before a court more than 72 hours after voluntarily surrendering to investigators.
In an application filed against the Commissioner of Police, Richmond through his lawyer Damien Da Silva is asking the court to order that he “be immediately placed before this Honourable Court” so that a judge can determine whether his detention is 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 ranks that he would present himself with his attorney.
The filing states that Richmond, accompanied by his lawyer, reported to the Criminal Investigation Department Headquarters at Eve Leary on July 8, where he was detained and placed in police custody.
His attorneys contend that Richmond cooperated fully with investigators throughout the process and note 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, July 11, 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 police intend to continue investigating 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 is asking the court to issue a writ directing the Commissioner of Police to produce him before the court and to determine whether his continued detention is lawful.
His detention was disclosed on Thursday by Mohamed, who alleged that it was politically motivated. Mohamed told Kiskadee Watch that 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 gunned down 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 murder prompted an extensive investigation and later became the subject of public allegations that senior police officers had interfered with the probe, no one has been charged with the killing.
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