GEORGETOWN — President Irfaan Ali on Monday brushed aside questions about whether he would pardon National Border Patrol Director Daniel Seeram, and walked away without answering when asked whether Seeram would be told to step down after his conviction for assaulting his ex-wife.
Senior Magistrate Abigail Gibbs found Seeram guilty on October 2 at the Sparendaam Magistrates’ Court of assault causing actual bodily harm. He was remanded pending sentencing, now set for November 2, and was handed over to the Camp Street prison on Saturday night, October 10. Seeram is a former Guyana Defence Force captain and a former chairman of Region Four.
Pressed by reporters on October 12 about executive clemency, Ali said he was not yet considering the question and described himself as a president who has always acted within the law. When reporters asked again whether a pardon was on the table, he dismissed the idea outright. “You are even outside of my scope of thinking,” he said.
The follow-up question, whether a man convicted of domestic violence can keep running a key national security agency, went unanswered. The President turned and left.
The administration has said nothing official on whether Seeram’s contract will be suspended or terminated while he awaits sentence. Demerara Waves reported separately that Seeram has applied for bail again and maintains that his conviction was unjust.
Until the government says otherwise, the director of the country’s border security agency is in custody with no public word on his status in the job.
Sources: Kaieteur News and Demerara Waves. Image is illustrative.
Leave a Reply