As he had vowed, the father of teenager Jaheim Peters—who has accused cops at the Vigilance Police Station of torturing him—has filed an action in the High Court, asking that his son be released from police confinement.
The 17-year-old is currently a patient of the Burn Care Unit of the Georgetown Public Hospital where he is receiving treatment under police guard, for burns he said he sustained at the hands of police while in custody at Vigilance.
Esse Peters filed the court action on behalf of his son on Wednesday afternoon, shortly after the Guyana Police Force (GPF) announced that based on legal advice, no criminal charges would be laid against the police officers at the centre of the allegation.
The Force has said that the three ranks who were on duty at the time of the incident will face only departmental charges, pertaining to neglect.
Seventeen-year-old Peters, a fisherman of Annandale, East Coast Demerara was apprehended by police and taken into custody last Thursday in relation to an armed-robbery probe.
In his fixed date application (FDA) against the Commissioner of Police and Attorney General (AG) who are listed as Respondents, the elder Peters questioned why his minor child had been questioned by police in the first place, in the absence of his lawyer.
He said that his son was also never told of his rights before being questioned by lawmen.
Section 2 of the Juvenile Justice Act of 2018, defines a juvenile as a person 14 years or older, but less than 18 years old.
According to court documents seen by this newspaper, Jaheim’s date of birth has been given as November 3rd, 2004.
Esse in his FDA wants his son to be released from the custody of the police and taken before the Court which should then determine whether his continued detention is in fact lawful.
The family, through its attorney Eusi Anderson is lamenting the more than 72-hour detention—for which the law provides without charges being laid—that the teen has been in the custody of the police.
Esse complains that not only is his son still in the custody of the police with no charges levelled against him, but also that that police have been granted no extension by the court for the lad’s continued detention.
According to the FDA, the elder Peters said that it was on Sunday July, 10th, three days after being arrested, that his son was “brutally burnt…to his torso and upper body, including his genital region,” by ranks of the Vigilance Police Station.
Peters deposes in his application that after being burnt, his son was then “hauled, while still on fire, by ranks and beaten,” noting that some of the burns were grave, warranting emergency surgery.
Peters said that his protests to have his son removed from the police station to a juvenile holding facility, have been ignored; while alleging that since his hospitalization, ranks have been visiting to “harass” and “ill-treat” him.
According to the elder Peters, on two occasions lawmen visited and conducted interviews with the lad while he was about to and shortly after he had received emergency surgery.
Esse said, too, that on both occasions the interviews had taken place after he (Esse) had left the hospital, making it clear that he had never given his consent for the police to speak to his son.
The father said that on neither occasion was any adult nor the family’s attorney present.
He said that despite a juvenile, Jaheim had related to him that the police had told him that he was “old enough to speak his own story.”
The teen is vigorously denying the police’s version that it was he who had burnt himself while in a cell. He maintains that it was the police who had burnt and tortured him.
Reports reaching Stabroek News revealed that Jahiem was reportedly smoking in the cell during which he “accidentally” burnt himself. He was reportedly given a lighter by a detainee who was on the bench.
The GPF on Sunday said that the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) was investigating the alleged police brutality during which Jahiem sustained burns while in custody at the Vigilance lockups. Two ranks from the station were placed on close arrest.
After reports of the incident surfaced on Sunday, Jahiem and his family and the police presented two different accounts of what transpired.
In a video released by Jahiem’s family, while at the hospital, he accused the ranks who questioned him, as also being the ones who set him on fire.
In the 46-second video, the teen while still in handcuffs and shackles said the police wanted to talk to him about a firearm.
“He wanted to knock me to talk about some gun and I tell he me ain’t know bout no gun and me and he start scuffle and after then he took the lighter and light me… I had to take off my jersey and dash it in the water… and when the ambulance come they say I burn me self… they beat me to say that (I burn me self), when the ambulance come,” the teen has said.
The police version is that around 10.10 am on Sunday, ranks on duty heard screams from the lockups. This led to a rank checking and upon doing so he observed the jersey that Peters was wearing was in flames. At the time, Peters was the only occupant of the cell.
The police on duty summoned the Emergency Medical Technicians and Peters was treated. While being questioned, police said Peters told ranks that he was given a lighter by another person who was also in custody but was sitting on the bench.
The police alleged that Peters said he was playing with the lighter, igniting it on and off when his jersey caught on fire. As a result, he sustained burns to the ribs on the left side of his chest and hand.
The detainee alleged to have given Peters the lighter has been identified as Keron Williams.
Stabroek News on Wednesday spoke to Williams’ brother, Trevon Williams who was also in custody at the time of the incident and he has refuted the police’s account.
Trevor said that neither he nor his brother had a lighter in their possession and neither did they provide Peters with one. “No lighter. Just we money alone and key and so….Me and me brother didn’t give no lighter…None of that,” he told Stabroek News.
