The Attorney General and the government have offered no form of defence in the Phillip Simon and Akbar Muhammad detention case. Simon was arrested in May 2011, while looking for lawyers to represent Nation of Islam’s Abdul Akbar Muhammad, who had been detained on drug trafficking and terrorism allegations.At the time, Muhammad was in Guyana to lecture in Buxton on the slave trade.The two were subsequently released without charges and are now seeking substantial damages from the Attorney General and the Government of Guyana. On Tuesday the AG Chambers had to lead their defence, but did not put forward any witnesses. The case was closed and Chief Justice Ian Chang’s decision is pending.Last week Canada-based Guyanese, Phillip Simon, testified about being detained under horrendous conditions in the Brickdam Police Station lockups after being accused of participating in international terrorism and drug trafficking. Simon is being represented by Attorney-at-Law Nigel Hughes.Testifying in the High Court Simon stated that he is employed in the field of electrical maintenance and resides at Morning Star, Montreal, Canada. He said that he arrived in Guyana on Monday, May 16, 2011 and had invited Mr. Akbar, who had lectured in Canada on the slave trade, to conduct a similar lecture in Guyana.Simon stated that The Nation of Islam representative conducted a short lecture at a school in Buxton.He had two lectures scheduled for airing on Channel 9. Simon said, “On the 19th I was in my hotel located in Kitty and I went looking for lawyers for Minister Akbar Mohamed, who had been arrested.”He said that after failing to find an attorney he spoke with a Government Minister on the phone. Following that, he went to CID Headquarters, where he was met by two police ranks. Simon testified that he was asked by a policeman about an individual named ‘Perreira’ and about his connections to ‘Perreira’.“I told him (the policeman) I don’t know him, I met him before and I was trying to contact him for Mr. Akbar because he (‘Perreira’) would lead him (Akbar) to the Muslim community.“They never asked me questions about terrorist activities. They never asked me about any circumstance in which I was involved in acts of terrorism. They never asked me about any drug trafficking. They never asked me about any circumstances in which I was alleged to be involved in drug trafficking.“They never confronted me with any person who accused me of being involved in terrorism or trafficking in Narcotics. They never presented me with any document that implicated me in terrorism or any trafficking. They never questioned me about any activities that surrounded terrorism or trafficking.”According to Simon, the police ranks said that they were waiting for a call “before they release us… if the call did not come by seven they would take us to Brickdam.” He said that they (himself,Wholesale Jerseys China, Akbar and another man, Tyrone Seymour) were eventually informed that they would be taken to CID Headquarters.Simon stated that Tyrone Seymour is a barber and that he had often visited the man’s barber shop.He said that he had asked Seymour for Perreira’s number and had made several calls to ‘Perreira’ after getting the number.According to Simon, Seymour came to CID Headquarters on the afternoon of May 19, 2011, to bring him a book and was subsequently arrested.Simon testified that he also spoke to Crime Chief Seelall Persaud. He said that Persaud questioned him about the Nation of Islam.Before the date of his arrest he said that he visited the US about five times per year to visit the Nation of Islam in Chicago.I was never stopped. After May 20, 2011, “when I was released, I first attempted to go to the US. I was detained by the immigration authority concerning the matter I had in Guyana concerning the drug trafficking and terrorism. They told me they would let me in, but I needed to get the matter cleared up,” Simon testified.Simon told the court that he contacted Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr. Roger Luncheon. He said they had two conversations about the incident and “he asked what it would take for the matter to go away.”Simon told the court that he returned to Guyana in February 2012 but was unable to make contact with Dr. Luncheon.He said that he never received an apology for his arrest or detention and never received any compensation or offer of compensation from the Guyana Police Force.Noting that he was claiming damages for wrongful arrest, imprisonment and consequential loss, Simon stated that he felt “awful and degraded to be put in a condition like that.”Also testifying in the matter was Tyrone Seymour, a barber of Lot 4 Cove and John, East Coast Demerara. He said that around 14:00 hrs on May 19, 2011, He visited CID Headquarters after Simon called him to deliver a book for him.On arrival at CID Headquarters, a detective asked for his name and address. Seymour said that the detective then told him to sit on a bench and later told him that he was a suspect in terrorism.“I was 28 years old at the time. I was never arrested for any criminal offence or accused of terrorism.” Seymour said he was placed next to Mr. Simon and Mr. Muhammad in the same cell.
