Bakr trial causes MADNESS

MADNESS! That’s the only word to describe the events at the Hall of Justice yesterday — the opening day of the conspiracy to murder trial of Jamaat-al-Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr. It was absolute chaos for everyone who had any business at the Hall of Justice. One thing was certain — the authorities failed miserably in dealing with the number of people who had only one exit in the building through which to enter and depart, Knox Street.  There were no fire exits and many people wondered what could have happened if a fire had broken out in the Hall of Justice.

The Supreme Court summoned 1,163 potential jurors for Bakr’s case. It was the first time that the Hall of Justice was playing host to so many people. With a heavy jury list, the authorities sprung into action very early. Knox Street was closed off to vehicular traffic causing chaos in the city. Heavily armed policemen and soldiers were on duty. Then the madness began. From as early as 7.45 am, jurors began arriving at the Hall of Justice only to be told by an MTS guard that the building had to remain closed until 8 am. By that time, there was a heavy build-up of jurors, lawyers, accused persons, witnesses, staff, and other persons on their own business at the Hall of Justice. There was an increased presence of MTS personnel, the Judiciary Security Unit, as well as the regular Police Court and Process Branch. Under the watchful eyes of Deputy Commissioner Oswyn Allard, the police tried their best, but the planning for such an event left a lot to be desired. It was evident from very early that all the planning by the authorities was going to be a big flop — and what a flop it was.

The authorities did not anticipate the magnitude of the event. There were long lines outside the Hall of Justice waiting for entry to the courthouse. The MTS officers were slow in scanning persons entering the building and one woman wondered if all the jurors would get inside. In the foyer on the first floor, Appeal Court Judge Stanley John was supervising operations. The Judiciary Security Unit personnel, who have been in charge of security at the Hall of Justice, seemed at a loss at the huge exercise, although most of them are retired police officers. Even Bakr and some of his followers stumbled upon a huge crowd on the steps of the Hall of Justice when he arrived at 9 am. It was then obvious that a prompt 9 o’clock start of proceedings would never materialise.

It took judiciary staff a full three hours to process jurors and seat them in the right places in a completely transformed building. Criminal Courts 1, 2, and 3 were blocked off while Civil Courts 1, 2, 3, and 4, were relocated. On the stroke of 11 am, Justice Mark Mohammed appeared in the Third Criminal Court and promptly apologised to the jurors for the delay. “I am sorry you had to endure such a long wait this morning. Some of you have been here since 8 o’clock,” he said. The judge said the flow of traffic was not as swift as it should have been, but he promised that this would be remedied. He pointed out that customer service was not acceptable and promised that everything would be fine on the next occasion. Justice Mohammed spoke to the jurors through a live video/audio link-up with huge screens strategically placed throughout the first floor of the building.

Pamela Elder SC, the lead attorney for Bakr, said she wanted to raise a matter. She said when she turned up at the Hall of Justice, she saw one of the Court of Appeal judges directing traffic. “He was directing the jury and he was going through the jury roll. I am asking that the Judge of the Court of Appeal desist from performing such a function. It doesn’t look good.” She asked, “How many judges are involved in this case? We need to know that there is one judge and that judge is the Hon Justice Mohammed.” Mohammed took note of what Elder stated. Ironically, the Appeal Court Judge was not seen again for the remainder of the day. Mohammed then asked for the jury roll to be called. It started at 11.18 am in batches of 100. This exercise was completed at 3.35 pm. More than 1,100 jurors were present. There were a number of absentees while several were granted exemptions by the judge for various reasons. By the end of the day, there was a flood of applications before the judge for exemption. Mohammed entertained the applications at the end of the day.

The jurors grumbled all day. They complained of having nothing to eat, that there was chaos and long lines, and that most of them had to pick up children after school. It was not until after 2 pm that a snack arrived for the jurors, but not everyone knew about it. At the end of the jury roll, the clerk of the court called the case — the State vs Yasin Abu Bakr. Elder, who leads Owen Hinds Jr, said the defence was ready to proceed. But she said that prior to the arraignment of the accused, she wanted to make certain legal submissions. British Queen’s Counsel Sir Timothy Cassel, led into and out of the court through a special entrance in the building, said he had no submission to make, but would listen with interest to what Elder had to say. Elder told the court that her arguments would last one day. Cassel said he would need just one hour to reply to what Elder submits. Mohammed said based on what transpired over the next few days, he would ask the huge panel of jurors to return next Monday, where hopefully the madness and chaos which occurred yesterday will not repeat itself.

Hearing was then adjourned to this morning for legal submissions. The judge then released the jurors and then it happened again. More than 1,100 jurors had to leave through one exit and this took a rather long time especially as it was raining. Bakr, 63, is charged jointly with David “Buffy” Millard and others with conspiring to murder expelled Jamaat members Salim Rasheed and Zaki Aubaidah on June 4, 2003 at Citrine Drive, Diamond Vale, Diego Martin. Appearing with Cassel were Director of Public Prosecutions Geoffrey Henderson, Wayne Rajbansee, and George Busby.