Baby Skello granted bail

Last Updated on Tuesday, 17 June 2025, 19:04 by Writer

Singer and disc jockey (DJ), Daniel “Baby Skello” Wharton was Tuesday granted GY$45,000 bail pending trial for the offence of blasphemous libel connected with a song about a Hindu goddess, his lawyer said.

Mr Wharton’s release from remand now depends on the payment of the bail.

Attorney-at-Law Everton Singh-Lammy successfully made representation for Mr Wharton’s pre-trial liberty before Justice Simone Morris.

The bail application notes that the fact that the Guyana Police Force had released the accused on his own recognisance, along with certain reporting conditions, demonstrates that there is no concern that he will flee the criminal justice system. “By the conduct of the Guyana Police Force and the Defendant it demonstrated that the Respondent posed no risk of flight,” Mr Singh-Lammy said in the bail application. The lawyer said there were no incidents of chaos or disorder while Mr Wharton was on self-bail.

Mr Wharton was remanded to prison on Friday by Magistrate Judy Latchman after the indictable charge was read to him. On the application of the Administration of Justice Act, he pleaded not guilty to the summary charge. He was charged with the offence because of an explicit and vulgar song concerning a Hindu Goddess.

If found guilty, he could be jailed for a maximum of one year.

In his written submission for bail, the lawyer states that although the magistrate did not deliver a reasoned oral decision, she recorded in the case jacket that she “adopts the grounds and reasons cited by the prosecution.” He notes that prosecution’s objections to bail included that the offence is serious in nature, the defendant violated a sacred deity, detention is required for the preservation of public order, the defendant’s actions destroyed public morals and the country was in chaos as a result of the musical publication.

The lawyer said the magistrate adopted the grounds “in full without any evaluation of their evidentiary basis or legal sufficiency.” He countered that the offence of blasphemous libel is not serious because the Bail Act classifies a serious offence as one punishable by imprisonment of five or more years.

Mr Singh-Lammy also contended that there was a violation of a presumption of innocence, and there was a failure to conduct a proper judicial balancing exercise. “There was no assessment of the defendant’s personal circumstances, lack of
prior convictions, non-violent charge, or available conditions to mitigate risks of absconding,” he said.

Mr Singh-Lammy said Mr Wharton was also entitled to bail because most likely his trial would not commence in a reasonable time, he is not a flight risk, has no prior convictions, entitled to reasonable bail under Guyana’s Constitution and he is presumed innocent in accordance with the Constitution.

At the request of the Ethnic Relations Commission, he had removed the offensive song, and publicly apologised in words and song.

The smaller political opposition Alliance For Change (AFC) at the weekend recommended that government and opposition parliamentarians unite in repealing the offence of blasphemous libel from Guyana’s lawbooks, saying that it violates Guyana’s constitutional right to freedom of expression and international law.