The Chambers of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on Tuesday confirmed that the trial of Muslim scholar, Nezaam Ali, who was accused of sexual lymolesting nine boys between 2011 and 2012 will be heard on March 7, before Justice Navindra Singh at the Demerara High Court. The defendant appeared before Justice Singh but his lawyer, Stanley Moore, requested a deferred date for the commencement of trial.
He is expected to be formally indicted on nine counts for the offence of sexual activity with a child by abusing a position of trust, with an alternative count of rape of a child under 16 years. The State indicated that all of its witnesses in the matter were present in court on Tuesday. The matter is listed for trial but could not be heard by Sexual Offences Court Judge, Jo-Ann Barlow due to her tenure as former Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions as she would have been familiar with the case.
The DPP’s announcement follows concerns that the mother of three of the boys who were allegedly molested is being offered some G$8 million by an Islamic organisation to have the matter settled. Ali, of Lot 268 Section C 5 South Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, was charged back in 2012 with raping the nine boys.
The charges alleged that between December 2011 and January, 2012, Ali, being a teacher attached to the Turkeyen Masjid, had engaged in sexual activity with the children, abusing a position of trust.
However, after being committed to stand trial in 2013, the matter was stalled for some time after birth certificates and medicals for the boys had gone missing from each of the nine files. The parents and relatives of some of the alleged victims had publicly expressed their frustration at the situation in the past. One parent has even claimed that there has been a deliberate attempt to drag the matter out. In 2017, however, there was a turn of events when the DPP’s Chambers in a letter had ordered that the case be reopened. He was later re-committed to stand trial at the Demerara Assizes in 2018.
The mother of three of the alleged rape victims had told sections of the media that persons had been taking photographs of her sons and she regarded this act as bullying. Shortly after his previous committal, Ali’s then lawyer, Nigel Hughes, had filed in the High Court an action to have the committal overturned. This was rejected by the court and it was ruled that the committal would remain.
