Men in tears after charged with inciting public terror, robbing Chinese-owned supermarket

Some men broke down in tears today in a courtroom at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts after they were charged with inciting public terror and robbing a Chinese-owned supermarket on Monday night.

Over 100 persons were arrested for varying offences committed during the countrywide violence on Monday night and today, some of them appeared in court to face charges.

In one instance, nine men were jointly charged for being involved in an unrest along Cemetery Road, Georgetown. They were charged with inciting public terror under the Terrorism Act.

The group is facing penalties of up to $500,000 each in fines or as much as 10 years behind bars, if found guilty.

In addition to the terrorism-related offence, the men are also accused of breaking into a Chinese-owned supermarket during the chaos and carting off goods valued at approximately $6 million.

The defendants are Corwin Baksh, 39, a vendor; Devon Lewis, 22, a porter; Randy Benjamin, 26, a taxi driver; Alex Atkinson, 19, unemployed; Aden Cuffy, 21, and Jason Hardy, 25, both construction workers; Tyrese Assanah, 21, also a porter; Jamal Singh, 25, a mechanical engineer; and Faizal Kennedy, 23, a delivery rider.

They were not required to plead and were all remanded to prison after the prosecutor strongly objected to bail. The matter was adjourned to May 28.

At least two of the accused broke down in tears in the courtroom. One of the men said he had only been present to promote peace.

Another accused claimed he was only at the scene to report on the issue. Others insisted that they were never found inside the supermarket and denied any involvement in the looting.