Guyana born U.S. citizen, Marcus Bisram who was committed to stand trial before a judge and jury for the October 2016 murder of Berbice carpenter, Faiyaz Narinedatt, was today freed of the crime.
The ruling was handed down by Justice Simone Morris- Ramlall at the High Court who ruled that there was insufficient evidence for the State to continue the charge.
Through his lawyer Sanjeev Datadin, Shermilla Inderjalli, Bisram’s mother, had asked the High Court to review the order by the DPP.
Contending that Ali-Hack’s decision is unreasonable, unlawful, malicious, made in bad faith, Datadin argued that such a decision is contrary to the rules of natural justice as it was made without any legal foundation.
Apart from this, Datadin asked the court for an order that his client’s arrest on March 30, following the case being discharged by Magistrate Renita Singh at the end of a Preliminary Inquiry (PI), is unlawful, as well as his continued incarceration.
Further to that, the lawyers were granted a declaration that the constitutional rights of his client as guaranteed under Article 144 of the Constitution have been breached, and continue to be breached with every passing day.
The court order was granted for his client’s immediate release.
Following a directive for committal by way of a letter from the DPP, Magistrate Singh on April 06, 2020, committed Bisram to stand trial at the High Court in Berbice at the next practicable assizes for the murder of Narinedatt.
The directive from the DPP came eight days after the Magistrate discharged the case against Bisram citing insufficient evidence.
Following the discharge, Bisram was rearrested by police and taken into custody. In the letter, the DPP gave specific directives to the Magistrate. They were that she is to reopen the PI and commit Bisram as she is of the view that prima facie evidence was led against him by the prosecution for the case to be tried by a jury before a judge.
It is alleged that between 31 October 2016 and 1 November 2016, Bisram coerced, procured, and commanded five persons to murder Narinedatt.
The latter have been charged with the carpenter’s murder and remain on remand. Bisram was in 2017, taken into the custody of U.S authorities, and remained there up until his extradition to Guyana last year November.
It is alleged that he ordered the murder of Narinedatt, who was a guest at a party he hosted at home in Berbice. It is alleged that the young carpenter Narinedatt was beaten by several men. He was then pushed into the trunk of a car, taken to the Berbice public road, dumped, and run over to make it appear as if it was a hit-and-run accident.
It was reported that after the killing, Bisram fled to the United States of America.
Bisram was represented by a battery of lawyers; Arudranauth Gossai, Sanjeev Datadin, Glen Hanoman, Bernard Da Silva, and Dexter Todd.
