Four Sri Lankans were placed before Chief Magistrate Ann McLennan to answer the charge of illegally entering Guyana.
They appeared at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts on Wednesday.
Anthony Jeyaraj, Thambirasa Jan, Siriran Senthusaan and Sebamlall Dias all pleaded guilty to the charge which stated that between January 18, 2020, and February 22, 2020, at Springlands, they entered Guyana by sea and disembarked without presenting themselves to the nearest Immigration Office.
The Sri Lankan nationals claimed they are tourists who came to Guyana on a Surinamese boat.
According to the facts presented in Court, the defendants boarded a minibus destined for Lethem, Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), which was later stopped by Police ranks at the Mabura checkpoint. Upon inspecting the passengers, the four defendants were asked present their travel documents where it was discovered that the documents bore no travel stamps.
They were arrested and taken to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Headquarters, Eve Leary and later charged for the offence.
The Chief Magistrate after listening to the facts fined the men G$40,000 each or eight weeks in prison.
