Video-recorded police interviews with former Chief Elections Officer (CEO) Keith Lowenfield and APNU+AFC Chief Scrutineer Carol Smith-Joseph were presented in court on Wednesday as the trial into attempts to derail the 2020 General and Regional elections continued.
The trial is being heard before Magistrate Faith McGusty at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.
The court first heard the November 2020 interview with Smith-Joseph, which was conducted in the presence of her attorney, Nigel Hughes, at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Headquarters, Eve Leary. That session was a continuation of an earlier interview in September, which was cut short when Joseph fell ill.
Joseph was questioned about her signature on a declaration prepared by former Returning Officer for District Four, Clairmont Mingo, on March 13, 2020, at GECOM headquarters, Kingston. When shown the document, which was also examined by Hughes, Joseph responded: “I am exercising my rights to silence.”
Investigators also asked if she had traveled outside of Guyana, to which she again invoked her right to silence. When questioned about whether she held a Guyanese passport, she confirmed she did and acknowledged signing to apply for it. However, when asked to provide a handwriting specimen, Joseph refused, telling investigators, “I would refer to silence on that. You mentioned a lot of documents that you have, so why you need more from me?”
At one point, Joseph sought clarification on why she was being questioned.
The court also viewed a video-recorded interview with Lowenfield, which was conducted in October 2020, also at CID Headquarters, and in the presence of Hughes. Like Joseph’s, it was a continuation of an interview from September.
Lowenfield was asked if he owned a Guyanese passport but declined to answer.
He was then told that investigators had secured his passport application and submitted it for handwriting analysis alongside documents he signed at GECOM.
He was shown the documents, including the 2020 elections report and the allocation of seats in the National Assembly, but maintained, “I have nothing to say on this.”
During the 30-minute interview with Lowenfield, he sought to put on record his position on the investigation.
Citing Article 163 (1)(b)(i) of the Constitution of Guyana, which grants the High Court exclusive jurisdiction to determine questions about the validity of elections, Lowenfield claimed the investigation was unlawful.
Nine people are before the court in relation to electoral fraud. They are: former APNU+AFC government minister Volda Lawrence; former GECOM Chief Elections Officer Keith Lowenfield; former GECOM Returning Officer for District Four Clairmont Mingo; former GECOM Deputy Chief Election Officer Roxanne Myers; APNU+AFC’s Chief Scrutineer Carol Smith Joseph; and former GECOM employees Sheffern February, Enrique Liven, Michelle Miller and Denise Babb-Cummings.
The trial continues on Thursday.
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