GEORGETOWN, Guyana--After several weeks of investigations, an Islamic Scholar was Thursday arraigned on three counts of having sex with a child and he was remanded to prison.
Neziaam Ali also called Mufti was not required to plea to the charges.
Sparendaam Magistrate, Alex Moore remanded Ali to prison until February 9 when he will re-appear in the same court.
The in-camera arraignment, in which all media personnel and other persons were asked to leave the courtroom, lasted for close to two hours. Only the mothers for the accused and one of the mothers who claimed that her sons have been abused were allowed inside.
Particulars of the charges are between December 5 and December 31, 2011 at D Field Sophia, Ali allegedly engaged in sexual penetration of a boy under the age of 12 years.
The acts were allegedly committed while he was in a position of trust, being a religious teacher and knew or could be reasonably expected to have known of the trust in relation to the boy.
The same charge applies to each of the three boys.
Ali's Defence Lawyer is Vic Puran and prosecuting for the state is Police Sergeant Brown.
Prior to the case being called, the bearded accused was seen facing east and apparently praying in the company of his mother who was dressed in Muslim garb.
Medical examinations had confirmed sexual intercourse with at least three other boys but it is unclear whether police would charge him in connection with the others.
The man had allegedly had sexual intercourse with the boys at a Mosque in Section D, Pattensen-Turkeyen where they had gone for Islamic classes.
The charging and arraigning of Ali has ended weeks of on-going debate about why the police were taking so long to prosecute the man. The Director of Public Prosecutions, Shalimar Ali-Hack had also had cause to assure that she would have dealt with the matter fairly although Ali is an employee of the Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana (CIOG).
Eventually, Ali-Hack recused herself from offering advice in the matter.
The CIOG has sent Ali on leave pending the outcome of the court hearing. (demerarawaves.com)
