Treason accused Mark Benschop was last night freed from the Camp Street Prison in Georgetown after being granted a 'Presidential Free Pardon' by President Bharrat Jagdeo.
Benschop was released from the Camp Street around 19:00 hours last night and according to reports from reliable sources, was whisked away to Congress Place, the headquarters of the main opposition People's National Congress Reform (PNCR).
Sources said Benschop was expected to spend the night with his wife, Maria, and their seven-year-old son, Ryan, at a hotel in Capbellville which reportedly was said to be booked by Opposition Leader Mr. Robert Corbin.
President Jagdeo, at a news conference called yesterday afternoon, made the surprise announcement that he has decided to grant a 'Presidential Free Pardon' to Benschop who has been languishing in jail for a few years now awaiting a retrial.
"I think, frankly speaking, he has learnt his lesson...you do not seek to overthrow a democratically elected government without facing consequences," President Jagdeo declared.
"Personally, I think he should not spend more time in prison," the Guyanese Head of State added.
The President said he acted in accordance with Article 188 (1) (a), which states that: "The President has the power to grant any person concerned in or convicted of any offence under the laws of Guyana, a pardon either free or subject to lawful conditions".
In this case, The President said he has decided to grant a "Free Pardon" to Benschop, a decision he admitted was "personal" in nature.
"I said I would have only acted on this matter if he (Benschop) writes to me and not as any political issue. I intend to grant Mr. Mark Benschop a free pardon with that offence of treason for which he was charged. This will be done within the course of time," President Jagdeo told reporters.
He noted that Benschop finally wrote to him, a letter he received on August 24, to intervene on the matter of his incarceration.
"It was not just the letter. I was prepared to act on this matter since last year but the letter signed by him only came on August 24," President Jagdeo explained.
On the infamous and deadly July 3, 2002 invasion of the Presidential Complex in Georgetown by a large mob led by Benschop and Phillip Bynoe, President Jagdeo yesterday maintained that Benschop must take blame.
"He was involved... I think he was and I have always said that they (Benschop and Bynoe) led those people here and caused two of them to lose their lives."
"...if they had gone into the White House, hundreds of them would have beenbe slaughtered, or any other country, (but) I think he has been in prison and I hope that he recognises that was not the best course of action," President Jagdeo asserted.
President Jagdeo also unequivocally rejected claims that Benschop was being deliberately discriminated against, noting that the sloth in cases coming to trial is not unique to Benschop, but generic, and one that affects a wide cross-section of prisoners.
The President also made it clear that his decision to grant a free pardon to Benschop had nothing to do with the judicial process.
"It has nothing to do with the judicial process. I feel he was guilty of misleading those people and bringing them here (and) I am exercising the Presidential pardon and not a judicial pardon. The judiciary has the right to say he is guilty or not guilty but personally, I feel that he had a significant role to play."
There have been renewed calls in some sections of the media and other quarters, including and especially from the main Opposition PNCR, for action to be taken by the government in fast-tracking legal proceedings against Benschop.
Mr. Corbin last night welcomed the release of Benschop, the controversial television talk-show host and political activist, and commended President Jagdeo for his decision to grant a free pardon to the 'political prisoner'.
Benschop was charged with the capital offence on July 3, 2002 following the invasion at the Office of the President complex in Georgetown and since then he has been on remand in jail because, like murder, such accused are not allowed pre-trial freedom.
The remanded prisoner was, however, tried before Justice Winston Moore but the jury verdict, on December 9, 2004, was in the proportion of 11 to 1, not unanimous as required by law.
That judge, therefore, had no alternative but to order a new trial and, from then, a number of constitutional motions have failed to secure the retrial or Benschop's liberty, through a withdrawal of the indictment by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
While acknowledging that there are hurdles in the legal system and a long list of back-logged cases, the government had maintained that Benschop's retrial will have to wait its turn, especially given the seriousness of the offence.
"First of all, we have to recognise that from the background to this matter, it was indeed serious," Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon had told a news conference in May this year.
"Undoubtedly, this invasion of the office of the Head of State and Government of the Republic of Guyana parallels the mutiny and the invasion of Parliament in our sister CARICOM country, Trinidad and Tobago where death and destruction occurred during both events," Luncheon had posited.
He also said the timing of the invasion of the Office of the President in July 2002, allowed the Heads of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) who were here in Guyana at the time for their annual conference, "to pronounce on this matter and issue their now well-known statement on the situation in Guyana in which they abhorred the happenings and called for respect of the rule of law".
"Those who now pretend that that event was an inconsequential and trivial occurrence not warranting the application of the full course of the legal remedies or the law, are deluding themselves," Dr.Luncheon had declared.
He also noted that the impact of the present state of affairs and the functioning of the criminal justice law enforcement system was recognised by Cabinet during one of its weekly sessions in May, including the fact that not only Benschop but many other prisoners are languishing in jail awaiting trial.
"Note must be taken, however, that Cabinet continues to work to correct that situation," he said at the time, while alluding to the appointment of more judges and magistrates and providing more assets to help clear that backlog.
"Cabinet then rejects the contentions of all those who outright claim some deliberate discrimination of any prisoner, Mr. Benschop for that matter, so adversely affected."
He assured the public that Cabinet is continuing to do its utmost to improve the functioning of the service and the system. Luncheon said such improvement will lessen, if not prevent, "further Benschop type experiences" for prisoners in general within the court system in Guyana.
Benschop was charged jointly with Phillip Bynoe who is yet to be arrested after being on the run for some five years now.
President Jagdeo made it pellucidly clear yesterday that this Presidential Pardon that he is granting to Benschop in no way apply to Bynoe, since it will be Benschop's name alone on the Pardon. "Bynoe needs to face the consequences of the law," the President told reporters.
IMMEDIATE CONDEMNATION OF INVASION:
There was immediate condemnation of the Office of the President invasion on July 3, 2002 both locally and internationally.
Support for the Government and rejection of that assault on democracy was led by the CARICOM Heads of Government who were in Guyana at the time.
The following excerpts of statements issued at the time would be relevant to recall:
CARICOM heads statement on situation in Guyana (July 5, 2002): "Heads of Government were greatly disturbed by the acts of violence committed on July 3, 2002 by bands of persons who flouted the law with the intent of creating social disorder."
"They strongly condemned the attack on the Office of the President and the criminal acts which led regrettably to assaults on innocent persons, loss of life and the destruction of property in the city," the Heads stated.
A joint statement issued by the High Commissions of Canada, the United Kingdom and the Embassy of the United States on July 6, 2002 stated: "Violence and related activities from any quarter can never advance the genuine interests or prosperity of the Guyanese people. The use of violence as a means to an end is contrary to all democratic principles and civilised behaviour and must cease if Guyana is not to degenerate into a state of lawlessness."
The Private Sector Commission, in a statement on the July 3, 2002 invasion, said: "The invasion of the Presidential Complex was disgraceful and a dangerous misadventure. Why and how it was accomplished leaves a lot to be desired of the competence of the external and internal security."
"The wanton destruction of private property, the looting and the assault on innocent children, parents and other adults going about their business who were forced to flee the marauding bands added to the disgrace of our esteemed visitors," the PSC stated.
The Guyana Bar Association also expressed its "grave concern at the significant erosion in the maintenance of law and order in the City of Georgetown" on July 3.
The GBA said it was "perplexed by the exercise of judgment, which facilitated the gathering of a large crowd in the immediate vicinity of the Office of the President..."
And then Canadian High Commissioner, Mr. Sergei Marcoux, in remarks on the occasion of Canada Day on June 28, 2002 had this to say about the storming of OP: "The nations of the America have reacted quickly and firmly to what is described in the chapter as 'an unconstitutional alteration or interruption of the democratic order in a State of the Hemisphere'. They have shown their resolve, from now on, not to recognise changes of governments by means other than those provided by the constitutions of our respective country."
Also, then United States Ambassador Ronald Godard, at the 226th Anniversary of the Independence of the United States of America on July 4th, 2002 said: "The democratic path is never easy--not here in Guyana, not anywhere. Democracy is not all or nothing; it requires respect from differences, compromise and a will to make the system work for all citizens."
"My Government along with Guyana's many other friends in the international community has observed with anguish the recent wave of criminal activity that has undermined public confidence in the established institutions of law and order," the US Ambassador had declared. (By Mark Ramotar)
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