…as lawyer accuses prosecution of manipulating justice systemDirector of Public Prosecutions, Shalimar HackBy Gary EleazarFormer Magistrate and prominent Attorney-at-Law Murseline Bacchus, yesterday secured an order demanding Commissioner of Police and the Director of Public Prosecutions to appear before Justice William Ramlal later this month to show cause in a witness tampering case.According to the ruling, The Police Commissioner and the DPP must appear in the Berbice High Court to show cause, first, why a Writ of Certiorari should not be issued against them and quash their decision to institute a charge of conspiracy to obstruct the course of justice against Bacchus.They are also expected to show cause why a Writ of Prohibition directed to them and the Subordinate Officers of the Commissioner of Police should not be directed to them prohibiting them from proceeding with a charge on the ground that an institution of trial or commencement of trial constitutes an abuse of the process of the Court.According to the affidavit, Bacchus is represented by a team of lawyers, including Rex Mc Kay, S.C, Marcel Crawford, S.C, Edward Luckhoo, S.C, Nigel Hughes, Vic Puran and Perry Gossai.According to the affidavit, Bacchus who acted twice as Magistrate, in August, along with Chandralakhan Ramdan, was charged with the obstruction of the course of justice more than three years after the police had indicated intent to institute the charges.Bacchus is of the opinion that such a delay constitutes inordinate and unreasonable delay which amounts to an abuse of the process of the court and that the proceedings against him should be permanently stayed.According to Bacchus, he is now unable to make a proper defence because of the absence of a vital witness to the case, Anita Jasmonie, and therefore cannot get a fair trial.In setting the grounds for his case, Bacchus outlined that in December 2004 he was retained by the parents of Abdussalam Azimullah, Gansham Jagassar and Davindra Harrichand, who were charged with murdering one Gary Simon, to appear as Defence Counsel.He pointed out that one Annette Samaroo,Cheap Nike Air Max 1, who claimed to have been the reputed wife of the deceased, gave evidence at the Preliminary Inquiry in May 2006. She was later arrested by the police at Albion Police Station and was charged with perjury.Bacchus added that in or about July 2006, a Police Detective Mc Allister contacted him at his Chambers and informed him that an allegation of witness tampering was made by Samaroo against him.“He invited me to attend the Central Police Station the next day telling me that a charge would be preferred against me…No charge was then preferred… I heard nothing about the matter until the 10th August, 2009, over three years later,Cheap Womens Jordan Sneakers, when I was informed by Mc Allister that I would be charged with conspiracy to obstruct the course of justice on the 12th August, 2009.”The next day the charges were instituted against Bacchus and he appeared before Magistrate Krisendat Persaud in Berbice and was placed on bail.“I am advised by Rex Mc Kay, of Counsel, and verily believe that the charges against Annette Samaroo must have been instituted against her in order to get her to implicate me in as much as she cannot be convicted under the section contrary to which she is charged based on the particulars of offence of the charge.“Although the charge was still pending against Annette Samaroo, the police, on the 11th September, 2007, got her to sign another statement which purports to implicate me in a conspiracy to obstruct the course of justice.”According to Bacchus, some time in August 2005, the mothers of two of the three accused and another woman,Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic, whom he did not then know,Wholesale Jerseys China, visited his chambers.He states in his affidavit that the mother of one of the accused informed him that the other woman was the reputed wife of the deceased and that she wanted compensation to “free the boys”.He said that he later learnt that the woman was Samaroo, a witness for the prosecution in the murder charge.“I learnt so the very time and promptly sent her out of my office after telling her that she cannot free the boys.”He said that his then Secretary, Anita Jasmonie, was present throughout the period of time that Samaroo was in his office and over heard what had transpired but she has emigrated to the United States of America on or about February 2008 and he is unable to make contact with her and as such could not use her as a witness in his case.This is why he is adamant that the police if they felt they had a case should have instituted charges on the first occasion when they indicated such an intent.According to Bacchus, he has been advised by his Senior