Following intense cross-examination on Wednesday over his role in the handling of Statements of Poll (SOPs) at the Ashmin’s Building, which served as the tabulation centre during the 2020 General and Regional Elections, former GECOM IT Manager Aneal Giddings was absent from court on Thursday when he was expected to continue giving evidence.
The matter was called before Principal Magistrate Faith McGusty at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts, where lead prosecutor Darshan Ramdhani, KC, informed the court that Giddings would not be able to attend due to a personal matter.
Defence attorney Nigel Hughes expressed concern over Giddings’ absence, noting that there had been no indication when proceedings ended on Wednesday that the former GECOM IT Manager would not return for further cross-examination.
“So I’m a little concerned as to why he is not here today for further cross-examination,” Hughes told the court. “I don’t know what personal matters would outweigh the necessity for him being present in the court.”
Hughes added that, given the nature of Giddings’ testimony on Wednesday, he was registering his concern and protest over the witness’ absence.
In response, Ramdhani pointed out that there had been several occasions during the trial when witnesses were left partway through their evidence because defence attorneys were unavailable to conduct cross-examination.
He said the court had previously accommodated the defence by allowing other witnesses to testify before returning to witnesses whose cross-examination had not been completed.
Ramdhani said Giddings’ absence was therefore not outside what had occurred during the trial and that the prosecution wanted to facilitate former Minister Robeson Benn, who was scheduled to testify on Thursday.
After hearing both sides, the Magistrate indicated that she hoped Giddings’ absence was not due to anything serious, and the court proceeded with Benn’s testimony.
On Wednesday, Giddings faced intense questioning over his role in handling SOPs inside the Ashmin’s Building and the removal of GECOM’s election server during the March 5, 2020 bomb threat.
