[Editor’s note: This document was released both as a State Department cable as part of its 1981 FOIA release, and as Serial 2551 of the FBI’s RYMUR release.
[The State Department release withheld the second half of this cable under the national security exemption to the Freedom of Information Act, but it was included in the RYMUR release. The originally-deleted portions are denoted below in red type.]
R 031921Z NOV 80
FM AMEMBASSY GEORGETOWN
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4009
FBI WASHDC PRIORITY
DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY
LIMITED OFFICIAL USE GEORGETOWN 5310
E.O. 12065: N/A
TAGS: CARR, GY (LAYTON, LAURENCE)
SUBJECT: COURT HEARINGS CONTINUE ON LAYTON’S LEGAL FEES
REF: GEORGETOWN 5071
1. The court hearing scheduled for November 1 was postponed until November 3. After November 3 hearing Layton agreed that he owed his lawyer, Jai Narine Singh, the $95,000 (Guyanese) which Singh had claimed. The judge in the case subsequently informed Emboff [Embassy officer] that on November 6 she would hand down a judgment in favor of Singh and would lift present injunction against Layton’s leaving the country. There would then be further arguments as to whether a new order should be issued restraining Layton from leaving Guyana.
2. The Director of Public Prosecutions reiterated to Emboff November 3 that he does “not plan to turn Layton loose on the street.” He said he would act only in consultation with the Embassy. The DPP was aware of Layton’s November 3 consent to judgment on the legal fees and said he would await the November 6 hearing before considering what to do next.
Roberts [George B. Roberts, Jr., American ambassador to Guyana]
LIMITED OFFICIAL USE