(Source: CMC) – Chief Election Officer, Keith Lowenfield, has been granted nearly half a million dollars (One Guyana dollar=US$0.004 cents) bail after he appeared in court on fraud and conspiracy charges relating to the disputed march 2 regional and general elections.
Lowenfield was granted GUY$150,000 on each of the three charges that were filed privately on June 30 by Desmond Morian of the main opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) and Josh Kanhai of the smaller opposition The New Movement party.
Lowenfield appeared before Magistrate Faith McGusty at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court flanked by his attorneys Nigel Hughes and Senior Counsel Neil Boston. The charges against him relate to fraud, misconduct in office and breach of the public’s trust by providing results of the March 2 elections which he knows to be false.
Hughes said it is clear that the attorneys for the other side are attempting to turn the Court of Law into a political court
Lowenfield was not required to plea to the indictable charges and will re-appear in court on August 14.
Guyana is still awaiting the official results of the regional and general elections and the latest legal battle in the matter will be heard on Saturday, when the Court of Appeal will hear arguments in the appeal against a ruling last week by Chief Justice Roxanne George.
Private citizen, Misenga Jones, through her attorney, Mayo Robertson, is challenging what she said is an erroneous judgement by Justice George when she dismissed the case on Monday in which Jones had challenged the Guyana Elections Commission’s (GECOM) move to make a declaration of the March 2 elections, using votes tabulated by the national recount process, which she said was ruled unconstitutionally by the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) on July 8.
