A High Court has found two Guyanese guilty of their involvement in the 2018 pirate attack off the coast of Suriname that resulted in the deaths of five men.
A 12-member jury Monday found businessman Nakool Manohar, 43, and his co-accused, Premnauth Persaud, 47, guilty of the crime after 20 fishermen who were in four fishing boats 30 miles from the Surinamese coast were attacked.
Manohar had been indicted on two charges which allege that between April 14 and June 3, 2018, he counselled, procured and commanded Persaud and others unknown to murder the five fishermen.
Persaud was indicted on five counts of the capital offence of murder and like Manohar pleaded not guilty, but the jury deliberated for nearly two hours before finding both men unanimously guilty of the offence.
Of the 20 fishermen attacked, several are still missing and considered dead. Five men survived.
The men, who before Justice Navindra Singh at the Berbice High Court, had denied that while in Guyana’s territorial waters, they murdered Mahesh Sarjoo, alias “Kuba” and Tilaknauth Mohabir called “Camion” on board the vessel Romina SK 764 during the piracy attack.
They were accused of murdering Bandara called “Spanish man”, Laita Sumair called “Bora”, and Lokesh DeCouite, on board the vessel Joshua SK 1418 while committing the offence of piracy.
Media reports had said then the piracy attack stemmed from the execution-style killing of Somnath Manohar, who was gunned down on March 30, 2018, in Suriname. As a result of Somnath Manohar’s death, his brother Nakool Manohar travelled to Suriname and had offered US$50,000 to the pirate gang, allegedly headed by Persaud, to take revenge for his brother’s death.
Former president, David Granger, had described the attack as a massacre and a major setback to curbing piracy in the waters between the two Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries.
The Court has set January 16 as the date for sentencing.
CMC/
