Court martial of Gurkhas opens in Belmopan
More than two years and six months after fourteen-year-old David Zabaneh was beaten to death in front of Raul’s Rose Garden the court martial of three British army Gurkhas accused of involvement in the incident opened at the George Price Centre in Ladyville. The three men, all with the rank of rifleman, are twenty-seven year old Durgahang Limbu, twenty-three year old Yograj Rai, and and twenty-four year old Ramesh Rai. They are charged, however, not with David’s murder…or even manslaughter. Due to an apparent lack of evidence, the charges have been reduced to “violent disorder.” And today in court it was revealed that the three defendants, while they are accused of using threats and actual violence against David and his cousin Eugene, are not the soldiers who made what the prosecutor called the “final assault” that resulted in the death of the fourteen year old. That was just one of the revelations in court this morning as the prosecution laid out a preview of its case. News Director Stewart Krohn and News 5 special correspondent Karla Heusner were in the courtroom today and they’ve joined us tonight to explain what went on.
Janelle Chanona
“Now Stewart, Karla, for those of us who weren’t able to make it to the court martial today, what is it like in there, who do you see, what do you see, what went on today?
Karla Heusner
“Well first of all, I think I should clarify that it was not in Ladyville, but at the George Price Centre in Belmopan. When we got there this morning the Gurkhas were already inside. We went in about ten o’clock, and they had some preliminary things that they were doing and matters that they had to clear up. But basically, they have a Judge Advocate, Paul Camp, there is a seven-member jury, six men and one woman, and they are all officer rank, there is a prosecutor and his assistant Lt. Col. Nigel Jones. Each defendant has one barrister, a solicitor and a Gurkha officer and today they had the defendants sitting together in a group because they had translators behind them, so they were sitting directly with their solicitors, but that was the arrangement and each one had a sort of separate table. The barristers are Williams England, who is Representing Mr. Limbu, Neil Fitzgibbon who is representing Yograj Rai, and Richard Bendall is representing Ramesh Rai. And that’s basically sort of how the court is set up. There are a few other military people there, kind of assisting with the way things are carried out. There was a lot of in and out, they had to make some little discretions here and there for things, but there were not a lot of members of the public, it was a small seating, about thirty-five seats and we will get into that a little bit later in terms of who turned out.
But this morning basically, what happened was that the prosecutor, Col. Nigel Jones laid out sort of the nature of the charges and advised the jury what they were supposed to be looking out for, what they were supposed to examine. The charge is violent disorder, and burden of proof rests with the prosecution. The defendants do not have to prove anything, that they were innocent or anything at all.”
Janelle Chanona
“Now clarify that point for me because a lot of people might be wondering why aren’t these men charged with murder. How have they already been able to assess that…
Karla Heusner
“Well from what we understand, there wasn’t sufficient evidence to go that route. From what we have been told, in terms of identification, positive identification, and I guess when they were discussing the nature of the injuries and so forth, there were apparently, reportedly about thirty Gurkhas in the nightclub on May eleventh of 2001 and only these three are being brought forward in the court martial. That’s kind of interesting. The prosecutor said it was important for the jury to remember that although they are jointly charged, they do not rise or fall together. If the jury feel there is strong evidence for one, he can be convicted and the other two acquitted, they can acquit all, they can convict all, they can any combination. But to convict, the jurors must be sure of their guilt, they cannot have any doubts as to the fact that they are guilty. And basically, there are three elements according to the prosecutor of the case: one is involvement, two is intent to threaten or use violence, and three is unlawful use of violence, meaning they had no excuse. And that’s basically what he talked about in terms of the charges.”
Janelle Chanona
“Now Stewart, explain to us what exactly is the prosecutor doing to lay out his case and to prove his case?”
Stewart Krohn
Well that was the main thing that happened today Janelle, the prosecutor, if you watch courtroom dramas on TV, it’s the time when the prosecutor lays out for the jury or whatever the formal name for the military panel is, he lays out the case, kind of predicts what this case is going to be. I want to back track for a second though because the most striking thing that the prosecutor said today–and I think people need to keep it in mind–the prosecution is not saying that these are the three men who beat David Zabaneh Junior to death. That’s why it’s not a murder charge. Basically, all they are alleging is that these three guys threatened and used violence against not only David, but Eugene Junior as well. So, they are not in any way trying to link their activities to David’s death. So we are not talking about I saw him kill David Zabaneh, this is a much lesser charge, the maximum penalty is five years. So I think we have to keep that in mind.
“Basically then, when the prosecutor laid out his case, he took the court through it very carefully. Basically he said, the night of May tenth 2001 you had four boys David-interestingly the deceased, who we refer to as David Zabaneh Junior, he refers to as David Zetina, Zetina being his mother’s name. So you had David, fourteen years of age; you had his cousin, Eugene Zabaneh, sixteen; Said Musa Junior, seventeen; and Ryan Edwards, also seventeen, all students at S.J.C. high school. On that night of May tenth they had visited friends, they went for a meal at a Chinese restaurant, and then pass midnight now, you jump midnight, it’s early morning on May eleventh, they decide to go to Raul’s Rose Garden which the prosecutor describes as a nightclub and brothel. When the boys arrived, Raul’s was described as being full, that in addition to the thirty Gurkhas that were there, there were also other British soldiers and there were Belizean patrons. According to the prosecutor, the boys paid their entry fee, were allowed in. When they got in they found the Gurkhas in a celebratory mood. The Gurkhas had just finished their month of jungle training, they were leaving to go home to England the very next day-we all know what that means-the prosecutor strongly suggested that on their last night in Belize they would be drinking, they were in fact drinking heavily. And he said that it was that drinking that affected their behaviour later on. Shortly after their arrival, again, this is just what the prosecutor is alleging; an altercation took place in the bar. When that fight started, the four boys were advised by a security guard to leave. They took the security guard’s advice and left the establishment. However, the prosecutor said that when they left, they were followed outside by a large number of Gurkha soldiers, and it was outside the club that assault actually took place. When they got outside a number of Gurkhas assaulted both David and Eugene. So Eugene got punched as well. The other two boys, Ryan and Said Junior, they managed to escape unscathed, but the other two boys were hit. He described the Gurkhas as being drunk and angry, that the Gurkhas were seeking revenge for what had happened earlier in the nightclub, for whatever fight was going on. So Eugene took some licks but then he escaped. David, however, was not so lucky. To escape, the prosecution alleges that instead of running out to the car or where the other boys went, he sought refuge back in the club. It was then, in front of the club, where he got caught in what the prosecutor calls “the final assault” by the Gurkhas. So while both David and Eugene were hit to a certain extent and beaten to a small extent in their initial departure from the club, it’s when David went back that he really took the blows that resulted in his death. After he was beaten, for what the prosecutor described as a very long time, he finally sought refuge back in the club. He made it back in the club, collapsed, and he later died after being flown to Florida. He died round eight p.m. on the twelfth of May.”
Janelle Chanona
“Now you both mention that there is a lack of evidence, one, to be the first indicator as to why it’s not a murder case we’re dealing with, and from the very beginning we’re heard that the Gurkhas have refused cooperation, or were less than willing to cooperate with authorities on solving what happened, but there are some people coming forward, there will be people who are going to come and testify. Who are those people?”
Karla Heusner
“Apparently, they interviewed a lot of people because they have pages and pages of interviews, but who they have decided to call for, they have three Belizeans that they are asking to talk and the first one is going to Eugene Zabaneh Junior, then they have two security guards who were at the club who will testify as well. Then they also have two British soldiers, one who was standing inside the club looking out and one who had just arrived in a taxi and saw what the prosecutor said from the opposite angle what was occurring. And then they will have seven Gurkhas come in as witnesses. The first five, according to the prosecutor will basically be setting the scene, because they don’t know the Gurkhas individually by name or whatever, they can’t he says necessarily identify them as being the people involved, but they will give a flavour of what was going on in the club and what and what they saw. The Gurkhas are the ones who can positively identify the defendants and so it sounds like it will sort of rest on what they come up with. Interpreters will have to be used for those witnesses, and in fact, interpreters are being used throughout for the defendants.”
Stewart Krohn
What strikes me here Janelle, is really the small number of witnesses. Remember, this is an investigation that has thus far lasted two years and six months. We know they interviewed hundreds of witnesses and hundreds of people in the case. Early on this morning they referred to a stack of eight thousand pages of evidence that had not been indexed. And this was evidence that they were probably not going to refer to. Why in the end they only came up with three Belizean witnessed…now for example, four have Said Junior and you have Ryan Edwards, one has to wonder why they are not being called. You’d think that they would be able to testify.”
Karla Heusner
“No employee of the club beyond the security guards.”
Stewart Krohn
“Not Raul (club owner)I mean where were numerous people in there. Now you have to assume that the prosecutor knows what he is doing and maybe he thought it’s overkill for two or three people to give the exact same evidence.”
Janelle Chanona
“So in addition to these people’s testimonies, what is the prosecution going to be presenting? Physical evidence, pictures, what are they talking about?”
Stewart Krohn
“They are talking about diagrams, they are talking about photos, they may refer to transcripts of testimony that is not there in person as well. We are really not quite sure at this point.”
Janelle Chanona
“Now for the lawyers for the Gurkhas, what’s their admission to the court? What’s going to be their defence in all of this?”
Stewart Krohn
“Well, again, this was just the prosecutor laying out his case, so he may be trying to put words in the defendants mouths. But because he has see the pleadings, which presumably tells the story, what basically the prosecution is saying is according to Limbu, he says that he saw one of the boys smash a bottle into a Gurkha that injured a fellow solider of his. He also claims that he saw one of the boys throw a bottle at him and in self-defence after the bottle was thrown at him, he punched one of the boys back. That is what the prosecution alleges Limbu will say. As for Yograj Rai, again, the prosecution, he claims that one of the boys pulled a knife and that he saw his friend bloodied and in reaction to seeing his friend bloodied, presumably by this knife, he launched one kick against the boy’s chest, one kick. He says he then tried to chase the boy outside but another one of the soldiers, another Gurkha, stopped him. As for Ramesh Rai, he according to the prosecutor is going to claim that he saw one of the boys throw a bottle. That same boy came at him, and when they boy came at him he claims that he hit the boy in his face one time. So they are all claiming to have acted in self-defence.
Janelle Chanona
“Now Stewart, Karla, what’s their demeanour, these three Gurkhas sitting there, they are nonchalant, expressionless, they are worried, what was your opinion of how they looked in court?”
Karla Heusner
“Very calm, they seem very calm listening to their translator, looking around the room. They didn’t really appear to be talking among themselves too much, they came out, got into the vehicle at the break point, cool
Stewart Krohn
“If they are worried they don’t certainly look it.”
Janelle Chanona
“What about David’s family, I imagine they were there watching all that was happening, what was their attitude towards this?”
Karla Heusner
“His mother came, some relatives were there, apparently to give her support. She came in, we asked her is she wanted to say anything at the beginning, she said she wanted to wait and see how she felt. I think she just sort of wants to take it all in and see how things unfold. Obviously it’s an emotional sort of thing, but she seems determined to be there.”
Stewart Krohn
“Speaking to her off camera, Janelle, it’s clear that–and I could well imagine–she wasn’t very happy from the start when she learned only about seven or eight weeks ago that what she thought was going to be a murder trial is in fact a trial for violent disorder that doesn’t really even involve the death of her son. After the proceedings today I think she is a little bit disappointed. We really don’t know how a British military trial works; we know trials essentially from television. Put it this way, it did not look like an impassioned prosecution that was hell-bent on brining justice to avenge the death of this boy. So from that aspect, you could see why she might be disappointed. Legally, the prosecutor may know perfectly well what he is ding and that may be the strategy for this particular crime.”
Janelle Chanona
“Where there any further comment from the audience as to what was going on? Who turned up to see this court in action?”
Stewart Krohn
“There was one incident that I would have to comment on. There were about thirty-five seats in the courtroom. When the trial actually started, sixteen of them were empty. Now before the trial started, a teacher, and I will have to big up this teacher, because he brought his classroom from right nearby from Belize Comprehensive, brought them to witness the trial, which everybody knew was open to the public. He brought them there, high school kids, every well behaved, he asked to come sit in on the trial, to have the kids sit in. the court officer, told him flat out that no, no, that just won’t do. When asked why, first it was there’s no room then children shouldn’t bee in the court.”
Karla Heusner
“He said it was inappropriate.”
Stewart Krohn
“Yes inappropriate was his words.”
Janelle Chanona
“But this is a case where a fourteen year old was beaten to death…
Stewart Krohn
“One would think that if a fourteen year old was beaten to death that fourteen year olds might want to be interested to see if this boy might get justice. I would hope that’s not the case in the future.”
Karla Heusner
“The were invited, the court officer invited them to come back on Thursday and tour the courtroom, but not when it’s in session, so I don’t know if they will come back or not. But as far as we understood, there is supposed to be public access and we were not told there were any restrictions based on age, or based on the group that you brought. Frankly, I was surprised that there were only thirty-five seats, there were a number of press people there, but aside from Miss Zetina and her family and so on, there wasn’t a big crowd trying to get in there. They twenty-two students would have taken up seats. We hope that it’s something that will be addressed, it’s unfortunate.”
Janelle Chanona
“That was day one in somewhat of a nutshell, but presumably, this court is on some sort of timetable or schedule, what’s happening right now if anything?”
Karla Heusner
Well actually, at six o’clock they were doing a site visit to Raul’s. And it was the second for the day. They had gone at two o’clock this afternoon to view the premises in the daytime. They took the whole jury. And they went back at six o’clock because they wanted to be there when it was dark. There was some discussion over whether the lighting was the same now as it was in 2001, whether some running lights had been added, that sort of thing. So anyway, this evening they were at the site again doing a view, as they call it, to familiarise, give the jury the chance to see the location and so on. That’s what they did. Tomorrow it will continue despite the holiday it will proceed. They were saying that they anticipate that this could go on for five weeks. I don’t know.”
Stewart Krohn
“Looking at the number of witnesses, it seems hard to believe that it would last that long. But also, seeing some of the legal manoeuvrings in the court today, you could very well believe. And if they don’t start till ten and if they end at four and take an hour and a half for lunch, who knows.”
Janelle Chanona
“Needless to say, we will be following this story. Thank you for joining us guys and thanks for your explanations.
