More than 10 witnesses remain to be called in the ongoing 2020 Election Fraud trial, according to Prosecutor Latchmie Rahamat.
The matter continued on Thursday, with the nine defendants, Acting Chief Magistrate Faith McGusty, the prosecution, defence counsel, and several prosecution witnesses visiting the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) Headquarters on High Street, Georgetown.
Minister of Education Sonia Parag, along with witnesses Jonathan Yearwood and Rosalinda Rasul, were among those guiding the court through key areas of the building, which remains central to the case.
Throughout the trial, witnesses have spoken about what they say transpired at the GECOM headquarters, so the visit was intended to give the magistrate, prosecution, and defence teams a firsthand view of the physical space.
At the location, witnesses identified specific positions they occupied during the 2020 tabulation process, pointing out locations and recounting their movements and observations in real time.
Meanwhile, Prosecutor Latchmie Rahamat stated that the importance of site visits is that when you have witnesses who were present in the tabulation room, both at the Ashmins Building and at the GECOM High Street location, every person will give their perspective of what happened, and the magistrate has to put the evidence together at the end of the matter.
She explained that the visit is to help the court put the evidence together and determine the matter by understanding the layout of the locations where these witnesses were present. She added that the layout, the scene, and the pointing out of specific locations are important.
When asked how much longer the trial is expected to continue, she stated, “Well, I cannot express an opinion on the length of time remaining. And so what I will say is that a trial is very fluid for many reasons. For example, the evidence gives evidence in chief and then there’s cross-examination. And as you know that sometimes we have lengthy cross-examination, sometimes we have no questions asked. So we cannot estimate how long it will take.”
Meanwhile, one of the defence attorneys, Dexter Todd, who was on the site visit, stated that if the police were careful in their investigations, one of the first things that they ought to have done after taking the statements from the prospective witnesses is to visit the scene and allow the witnesses to point out various locations in an attempt to reconstruct the scene so that you can have proper measurements.
He added. “ now almost or over six years past you have a situation where the witnesses are revisiting the scene and they are trying to they are trying to of course rely on memory to reconstruct the scene, witnesses Rasul and mr Yearwood are closest in their reconstruction of where the projector was and where the screen was minister parag is totally off totally off and that is because you these things didn’t form part of their statements.”
Todd added that the witnesses never gave measurements or layouts as to where they were or where various items were placed under the shed. “ So basically, it is an opportunity for them to just make up something and just try to create a picture in their head. And that is why I believe you have that level of inconsistency today.”
When asked how long more he sees the case going on for, this is what he had to say, “ Well, I will hope this case comes to an end.”
The matter will continue on May 18, 2026.
