It’s been ten years since the brutal assassination of revered Attorney at Law Dana Seetahal S.C. Seetahal ambushed and shot dead behind the wheel of her SUV while driving along Hamilton Holder Street in Woodbrook on May 4, 2014. Her attackers stalked her as she reportedly left an establishment minutes before, cordoned off any possible escape route and fired volleys of bullets at her vehicle leaving her dead at the wheel in the early hours of that morning.
Just over one year later, on July 25, 2015, Rajaee Ali, his brothers Ishmael and Hamid Ali, Devaughn Cummings, Ricardo Stewart, Earl Richards, Stephan Cummings, Kevin Parkinson, Leston Gonzales, Roget Boucher, and Gareth Wiseman were charged with the crime.
Now on the tenth anniversary of her murder, her family has issued a statement voicing their disappointment and frustration that they are yet to feel a sense of justice in this case. In the statement issued on Friday, Seetahal’s relatives, colleagues, and friends expressed disappointment and frustration over the accused men still awaiting trial. The ststement read: “We call for a swift and transparent trial to commence, providing the closure that her family and loved ones so rightfully deserve.”
The Judiciary has claimed that it is not responsible for delays in setting a trial for 10 men accused of murdering former independent senator Dana Seetahal, SC. Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard, SC, claimed that his office was awaiting the Judiciary to send the committal bundle from the concluded preliminary inquiry in the case for indictments to be filed against the group. Gaspard’s claim over the issue was challenged by the Judiciary in a press release issued Saturday evening. It said, “The Judiciary wishes to correct the assertion.”
The Judiciary added, “Due to its size, the committal bundle in the case of The State vs Rajaee Ali and others, which contains over 8100 pages, was sent to the Office of the DPP via file transfer protocol (FTP) in three parts, on December 20, December 21, 2023, and January 5, 2024.”
Under new procedures, for a case to be listed for trial in the High Court, an indictment must first be filed by the DPP’s Office. Before the proclamation of the Administration of Justice (Indictable Proceedings) Act 2011 in December last year, indictments were filed after accused people were committed to stand trial at the end of a preliminary inquiry before a magistrate.