PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT FOR A CONVICTED ABUSER
October 9 2026
– AS DANIEL SEERAM REMAINS OUT OF PRISON
Five days after the High Court upheld Magistrate Gibbs’ decision to remand convicted wife-beater Daniel Seeram, questions are mounting over how a high-profile offender found guilty of violent domestic abuse has managed to evade the doors of a prison cell.
Senior Magistrate Abigail Gibbs found Seeram, the National Border Patrol Director and former Region Four Chairman, guilty of assault causing actual bodily harm against his former wife. Following the verdict, Magistrate Gibbs revoked Seeram’s bail and ordered him remanded to prison pending sentencing. Seeram’s subsequent emergency application to the High Court was struck down on Monday October 5th, leaving no legal ambiguity: Seeram was ordered to jail.
Yet, nearly a week later, the Guyana Prison Service (GPS) confirms that Seeram is nowhere in their system.
“As of this moment, Daniel Seeram has not been handed over to the Prison authorities.” Rajiv Bisnauth, Public Relations Officer, Guyana Prison Service
The failure of the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to hand Seeram over to prison authorities highlights troubling questions regarding accountability, enforcement, and potential preferential treatment for politically connected individuals. When ordinary citizens are convicted of violent offenses, they are routinely handcuffed in the dock, escorted to a police vehicle, and processed directly into the prison system without delay. In contrast, Seeram’s case presents a glaring discrepancy that risks undermining public confidence in the administration of justice.
This disturbing situation raises questions regarding where Seeram is currently. If he is not in prison, it remains unclear whether he is receiving special accommodations at a police facility or if he is being allowed freedoms denied to every other convicted offender awaiting sentencing. Compounding the issue is the deafening silence from law enforcement, as the Guyana Police Force has offered no public explanation for why a judicial remand order has gone unexecuted for five days.
The institutional failure to jail Seeram is rendered even more egregious by its timing, unfolding squarely during Domestic Violence Awareness Month. While state officials host public events and preach zero tolerance for gender-based abuse, cabinet figures have remained conspicuously silent on Seeram’s glaring evasion of justice. Neither Minister of Human Services and Social Security Dr. Vindhya Persaud, who spearheads national anti-abuse campaigns, nor Minister of Home Affairs Oneidge Walrond, herself a former magistrate overseeing law enforcement agencies, nor Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance Gail Teixieira who focuses heavily on human rights nor Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Priya Manickchand, has uttered a single word regarding the police force’s failure to enforce a court order against a high-profile convicted abuser.
The details established in court paint an unequivocal picture of Seeram’s conduct, a senior official who committed physical violence against his partner. By remaining silent and failing to enforce the court’s order immediately, leadership risks sending a toxic message, that holding a prominent title like National Border Patrol Director or former Region Chairman grants immunity from immediate jail time. For survivors of domestic abuse who look to the legal system for protection, the political hesitation to jail a well-connected person strikes a severe blow to public trust. Until the police force executes the court’s order and transfers Seeram to prison custody, the perception that influential figures operate under a different set of rules will only grow stronger.
