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Tunapuna
MP Eddie Hart was discharged yesterday after he was found
guilty of assault charges by a Tunapuna magistrate.
Hart was before Senior Magistrate Indra Ramoo-Hayes in the
First Court on charges that he assaulted Chaguanas Deputy
Mayor Orlando Nagassar.
The Tunapuna MP was accused of assaulting Nagassar on September
11, 2002, in front of Tunapuna Magistrate’s Court, as
Nagassar, then Chaguanas Mayor, was on the campaign trail
for the 2002 general elections.
Ramoo-Hayes decided to discharge Hart under Section 71 A,
after his lawyer, Theodore Guerra, SC, pleaded with her for
leniency.
Guerra said Hart was a Government Minister and had no previous
convictions. The Senior Counsel also said Hart was a good
man.
The magistrate, in deciding to discharge Hart under Section
71 A, agreed with Guerra that Hart was a good man, and that
people only heard good of him.
This means Hart will not have any conviction recorded against
him.
But before giving her ruling, Magistrate Ramoo-Haynes told
Hart that “there was a mountain of evidence” against
him.
The prosecution, she said, had brought sufficient evidence
which proved him guilty.
Candia James represented the DPP’s office.
Speaking at a news conference at Chaguanas MP Manohar Ramsaran’s
office yesterday, Nagassar, accompanied by his lawyer, Robin
Montano, was still elated.
He said: “This is a clear victory, and I think it sends
a message to people who sit high in office that they are not
immune from the law.”
Nagassar said he was giving Hart 14 days to offer an apology
and an out-of-court settlement, or else he would take the
matter to the High Court.
Both Montano and Nagassar also called for Hart’s resignation.
Hart refused to comment.
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