Attorney-at-law Charles Ganga-Singh says he plans to take legal action against resident magistrate Simone Maddix for allegedly having him placed in police detention without just cause.
Ganga-Singh says when the case against his client was called up in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday the magistrate informed that the matter was being put off.
He says he enquired as to why the case was being rescheduled.
He says he also enquired why a witness statement the magistrate took from the investigating officer in the case was not included in the case file.
According to the attorney, RM Maddix said she was not obligated to explain anything to him and his remarks were rude and out-of-order.
Ganga-Singh says the magistrate then asked him to apologise.
He says he insisted that he had done nothing wrong so he had no reason to apologise.
The attorney said it was then that the magistrate ordered that he be placed in the police lock-up.
Ganga-Singh says he was eventually released from custody after several hours in detention.
The attorney says in additional to taking legal action, he plans to write to the Chief Justice outlining his ordeal.
The ordeal has raised eyebrows among some members of the legal fraternity.