Marijuana activist Nazma Muller has pleaded not guilty to using obscene language during a protest outside of Parliament, last Friday.
Muller, 46, of Cane Farm, Trincity, entered the plea as she appeared before Magistrate Sarah de Silva in Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court yesterday afternoon.
During the brief hearing, police prosecutors indicated there are two police officers who will testify against Muller.
Muller, who represented herself in the hearing, informed the court that she will be retaining an attorney for the next hearing of the case.
Before adjourning the case to November 13, de Silva ratified the station bail that Muller was granted by a Justice of the Peace after being charged last week.
Muller was arrested while participating in a protest over the Government’s delay in bringing legislation for the decriminalisation of marijuana.
She reportedly shouted expletives while holding a placard outside the Parliament Chamber at the International Waterfront Centre at Wrightson Road.
The offence carries a $200 fine or 30 days imprisonment upon conviction.
Over the past year, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi has led public consultations on the issue and had promised to introduce the legislation in Parliament, later this year.
Last year, Caricom’s Marijuana Commission led by the University of the West Indies (UWI) Dean of Law Rose-Marie Belle Antoine, published a report calling for member states to introduce decriminalisation.
Marijuana has already been decriminalised in Jamaica, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Antigua and Barbuda.