According to Joint Services attorney Selwyn Pieters, it was not Deputy Director Gladwin Samuels who ordered the door to Capital A closed on March 3 when a fire killed 17 prisoners, but a subordinate officer, who gave the instruction after prisoners began rioting.
Pieters related this information during a break in yesterday’s proceedings, at which time he and Samuels engaged the media. The officer he referred to had given in-camera testimony at the hearing on Tuesday, during which footage was reportedly played, showing clearly by whom the order was passed, and who locked the door. The instruction was reportedly passed after prisoners began rioting, rushing the door with improvised weapons.
In Samuels’ evidence yesterday—as had been repeatedly stated by Pieters prior to Samuels’ testimony—he maintained that when he arrived at the prison, the search had already been underway. Samuels’ evidence is that when he arrived at the