Five days after High Court order, Seeram still not in jail
(Kaieteur News) – Five days after the High Court upheld the magistrate’s court ruling to remand Daniel Seeram to prison for beating his wife pending sentencing, the convict is yet to be placed in jail.
Senior Magistrate Abigail Gibbs found the National Border Patrol Director and former Region Four Chairman Seeram guilty of assault causing actual bodily harm, law enforcement authorities have still failed to hand him over to the Guyana Prison Service.
Convicted wife beater, Daniel Seeram
The case stems from an incident on 11th September, 2023, at a Cummings Lodge apartment shared by Seeram and his now ex-wife, Farzana Hamid. During the trial at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court, Hamid testified that she was awakened in the early hours by sharp blows to her head inflicted by Seeram. When she attempted to record the assault on her phone, Seeram snatched the device, smashed it against a wall, and threw it into a toilet before continuing the physical attack. Medical evidence submitted to the court detailed extensive injuries, including a swollen left eye, damaged wrist, and severe bruising to her head, left upper arm, left thigh, and right breast.
In her ruling last week, Magistrate Gibbs rejected Seeram’s defense that he had merely pushed Hamid while trying to leave after an argument over his interactions with other women at a bar. The Magistrate noted that the severity and distribution of Hamid’s injuries were entirely inconsistent with a single push. Furthermore, Magistrate Gibbs highlighted that Seeram’s claims in court, that Hamid fell while intoxicated or inflicted the injuries on herself, were omitted from his initial police statement, finding his testimony evasive and inconsistent. Satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Seeram had not acted in self-defense, Magistrate Gibbs convicted him last week and ordered him immediately remanded to prison pending his formal sentencing on 2nd November, 2026.
In the immediate aftermath of the verdict, defense attorney Nigel Hughes urged the court to rescind the remand order, emphasising Seeram’s national security role as Director of the National Border Patrol Protection Unit. When Magistrate Gibbs refused, Seeram’s legal team launched an urgent Judicial Review application in the High Court. On Monday, five days ago, defense counsel Hughes, appearing alongside Tifaine Rutherford, argued alongside Deputy Solicitor General Shoshanna Lall that the Magistrate had erred in law. Both defense and state counsel submitted that remanding Seeram without first reviewing a probation report, victim impact statement, or mitigating factors effectively pre-sentenced him.
However, High Court Judge Joy Persaud-Singh dismissed the application, ruling that Magistrate Gibbs had not acted unlawfully, irrationally, or outside her jurisdiction. Justice Persaud-Singh explicitly upheld the decision to refuse bail, removing the final legal barrier to Seeram’s imprisonment and establishing that he was to be handed over to prison authorities immediately following Monday’s decision.
Despite concurrent orders from both the Magistrate’s Court and the High Court mandating his immediate incarceration, senior correctional officials confirmed late Wednesday evening that Seeram has yet to be processed or received at any prison facility.
The delay in executing the remand orders has drawn criticism from political leaders and members of the public. Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed reported that he personally visited major detention centers to investigate Seeram’s whereabouts, confirming through officers on the ground that the convict was held neither at the Lusignan Prison nor at the Georgetown Prison on Camp Street. Mohamed characterised the situation as an insult to victims during Domestic Violence Awareness Month and alleged political interference, noting that seasoned prison officers recalled only one other instance in over two decades where a remanded individual failed to reach jail.
Adding to the controversy, reports surfaced indicating Seeram may have been permitted to leave police custody over the weekend prior to the High Court hearing, though his defense counsel maintained he was unaware of any such occurrence.
Up to press time, top brass within the Guyana Police Force have maintained total silence regarding Seeram’s actual location or why he has not been transferred. When contacted for clarification, Acting Director of Prisons Nicklon Elliott refused to comment on the matter, and the Director of the Corporate Communications Unit of the Guyana Police Force has ignored all messaged sent in the Joint Services Media Whatsapp group regarding same.
Source: Kaieteur News
