Court orders Keron Bruce to defend cybercrime charge

Controversial Keron Bruce was on Monday February 12, 2024, ordered by the court to lead his defence in relation to charges which were brought against him back in 2023 under the Cybercrime Act.

Bruce had move to the court with a no- case submission hoping that he would escape the process of having to put up a defence against the charges which were laid against him by the police.

On Monday at the Diamond Magistrates’ Court, Magistrate Sunil Scarce ruled that Keron Bruce is to lead his defence on March 14, 2024 at 14:30 hours.

The no-case submission was made through his lawyer after the prosecution closed its case in the matter back in the latter part of 2023.

Keron is accused of being the person behind the mudwata character which has over the years slandered dozens of persons in the business community, judiciary, political arena and other sectors of Guyana.

Bruce was charged under the Cybercrime Act for using a computer system to  disseminate false information about journalist Leroy Smith called Big Smith, knowing same to be false.  

The information published, according to the charge, subjected Smith to public ridicule, contempt, hatred and embarrassment.

Bruce was arrested on January 28, 2022, just three days after, the BIG Smith News Watch made a public call with a reward of ONE MILLION DOLLARS for any information leading to the identity of the players behind the ‘Mudwata’ and ‘Guyana Uncut’ characters.

He was arrested following information BIG Smith News Watch received from persons who came forward with information which was then shared with the police. 

Bruce was apprehended at an EBD house after the police secured a court order to search his home.

Following his arrest, several devices belonging to him were seized and in analysing them, the police found videos and voice recordings for several contents that were packaged and uploaded to social media platforms including Facebook, YouTube and TikTok.

A voice-changing device was also recovered.