Attorney Basil Williams in his final submission to the commission inquiring into the July 18 shooting at Linden yesterday charged that the actions by the Guyana Police Force were part of a plan to ensure that the planned five-day power protest was disrupted.
“We believe there was a prior plan to derail the five-day protest,” he stated, adding that persons acted in accordance. “Prior to the 18th the commander of the division (Clifton Hicken), had embarked upon a trail of intimidation on what he perceived as the proposed leaders of the protest,” he further stated, adding that Chairman of Region 10 Sharma Solomon and Council Member Gordon ‘Bad Heart’ Callendar, had testified to having been threatened by Hicken.
Williams, representing opposition coalition A Partnership for National Unity, told members of the commission that July 18, 2012 will be remembered as one of the most unfortunate incidents that can be imagined in what was supposed to be a peaceful setting.
“Three peaceful protestors were cut down. We are saying that they were injured and as a result lost their lives due to indiscriminate police shooting. Scores of Lindeners were also injured,” he stated.
According to the lawyer, evidence presented to the commission has proved that only the police had shot at the time and on that basis, they are responsible for the deaths and injuries suffered.
“On the basis of circumstantial evidence, that is, when you add up the facts in the matrix, I’m submitting that they lead inexorably to the conclusion that it was in fact the police who caused the death to the three men and injuries to the others,” he noted.
He pointed out that although Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee said his ministry was tasked with monitoring the situation at Linden on a day-to- day basis, the actions of the police reflected that these duties were broken down.
“Hicken breached his duty when he ought to clear the bridge in bright daylight, in light noon. He engaged the people on the bridge and he ought not to have taken anyone (ranks) and go to the station and come back under cover of darkness. We are contending that the reason he did that was in furtherance of a plan to derail the five-day protest. We are saying there was a coordinated blackout, they had to be in a position to do that for that blackout to come at the time when they went back to that bridge,” Williams suggested.
Audio
COI Hearing 2/11/12 Part 2
He opined that Rohee must accept full responsibility for what happened on July 18 at Linden since there are many omissions affiliated with the Minister. “He said his ministry was monitoring then change and say the Guyana Police Force. The Guyana Police Force can’t be his ministry. Everything broke down,” he stated, adding that a call made to Hicken at 9pm that evening was only to confirm that the plan was executed.
“There certainly won’t have been any four-day protest after that… and being satisfied by Hicken that the plan was executed he pulled Hicken out for his own safety. This pretext that he was pulled out after he was found to be short tempered is an insult to this commission and an insult to our intelligence,” he posited.
Williams told the commission that the force’s contention about weapons being loaded by ranks before leaving the station is inconsistent with a video shown of a rank reaching into his pocket and retrieving two cartridges which he then loaded into his shotgun.
Also, the police records of arms and ammunition was said to be a serious issue as Assistant Superintendent Walter Stanton’s diary was found to have reflected the collection of a high power weapon which was returned along with a shortage of ammunition. “That’s a very dangerous thing because there was no record as to who those guns and ammunition were issued to and Stanton’s lame excuse is that it was in some other book. There is no serial number attached to any of those weapons in that diary,” he stated.
The matter of the independent pathologist, Williams continued, is very important. He stated if cases such as these are taken up by independent pathologists then a clearer perception will be gained.
“We are very concerned that an institution that has been set up for the protection of Guyanese public has been left to flounder, and underfunded by the government, the Police Complaints Authority…so people go to political parties. We would urge on this commission of inquiry to do something to help out the Guyanese people in that regard,” he said.
In concluding his submission, Williams stated, “Members of this inquiry, we are very expectant… we want you to know there are a lot of people walking wounded in Linden as a result of those incidents. We want you to know that there are expectations of this inquiry and we would like this inquiry by the time it completes its remit, its work and recommendations will result in a better value of human life and the need for protection of the law in this country, there’s great public insecurity right now. People are being killed in their yards, they are being killed in night spots right now due to police action…. People want to know when they send their young ones out on the road they return unharmed”.
