Donald Rodney’s appeal of 1982 conviction gets hearing date  

An appeal filed by Donald Rodney, the brother of historian and politician, the late Dr Walter Rodney, who was assassinated in June 1980, is set for another hearing on March 25, 2021, at the Guyana Court of Appeal.

Two years after his brother’s death, Donald Rodney was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment after he was found guilty of possession of explosives without lawful authority.

Donald Rodney is seeking to have the decision of the magistrate’s court overturned. During a Case Management Conference Friday, the Court of Appeal fixed rigid timelines for the filing of submissions in the matter.

Appearing on behalf of Donald Rodney was Attorney-at-law Sanjeev Datadin, while Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions, Dionne McCammon is representing the State.

The appeal will be heard by Chancellor of the Judiciary Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards, Chief Justice Roxane George-Wiltshire, SC, and Justice of Appeal Rishi Persaud.

Donald Rodney had mounted several protest actions in front of the Court of Appeal in Kingston, Georgetown over the delay in hearing the appeal which was filed over three decades ago.

On Friday, June 13, 1980, Dr. Walter Rodney was assassinated when a bomb exploded in his car in Georgetown. At the time of his death, he was 38 years old. It was reported that his brother, Donald, was the only eyewitness to the explosion.

A Commission of Inquiry (COI) conducted under the previous PPP/C Government led by Donald Ramotar, concluded that Dr. Walter Rodney’s death was a State killing and that the then Prime Minister Forbes Burnham had to have known about the plot.

Dr. Walter Rodney was the founder of The Working People’s Alliance (WPA).