[Editor’s note: The State Department withheld much of this cable under the B6 Exemption to the Freedom of Information Act. The withheld portions are noted in green type.
[A single reference to the subject of this cable – Laurence Layton – is indicated below in red type.]
P 091017Z JAN 79
FM AMEMBASSY GEORGETOWN
FM SECSTATE WASHDC 8667
UNCLAS GEORGETOWN 0066
E.O. 12065: N/A
TAGS: CARR (LAYTON, LAWRENCE [Laurence])
SUBJECT: W/W (ARRESTS: LAWRENCE LAYTON)
REF: STSTE 002465
1. [One line deleted in entirety.] A. Visits: Remanded prisoners are allowed two visits of 10 minutes duration a week. Convicted prisoners are permitted one visit of twenty minutes duration a month. Visiting hours are 9:30 – 11:30 and 1:30 – 3:30 Monday through Friday, excepting public holidays. (Visits by consular officers are not counted against the allotted visits).
B. Packages: Only educational books are allowed. [3 lines deleted] but such books are scarce in Guyana. Once a book is sent to the prison it becomes the property of the prison library, although the named recipient has first and continued use of it.
C. Public defender: Public defenders are not appointed for preliminary inquiries, but once a case goes to trial, [several words deleted] a lawyer will be appointed by the court if one has not been privately engaged. The defendant has no choice of attorneys if one is provided by the court.
D. Cost of attorneys: as in the United States, there are
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expensive lawyers and relatively inexpensive lawyers. The question of fees is between the attorney and his client.
[Paragraph two deleted in entirety.]
3. [Several words deleted] may also wish to know that [Layton] can receive only one letter per week, and may send one letter per week.
Burke [John Burke, U.S. Ambassador to Guyana]
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