July 28, 2009
Cops uncover network behind Health Ministry firebombing
‘SECURITY TOP-BRASS BRIEFING’: Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee and Police Commissioner Henry Greene, flanked by Assistant Commissioner Leroy Brummel (left); Crime Chief Seelall Persaud (partially hidden, second right) and Police Public Relations Officer Ivelaw Whittaker during yesterday’s news conference.
Minister Rohee, Commissioner Greene said there were “intellectual authors” behind the arson plot and investigators are looking for some key players
The Police have uncovered a network behind the firebombing of the Health Ministry complex on Brickdam, Georgetown and Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee yesterday said the arson was clearly politically motivated.
Two persons were charged in connection with the arson and appeared yesterday before a city magistrate while two others mysteriously vanished from a secure police station cell. Adding to what the minister called “a very intriguing case”, two of four other men held in the probe disappeared before dawn yesterday from secure lockups in the Providence police station under the noses of a female police corporal and another rank on duty.
At a joint press conference at the Home Affairs Ministry on Brickdam, the minister and Police Commissioner Henry Greene said there were “intellectual authors” behind the arson plot and investigators are looking for some key players.
But while Greene said “we don’t know where this (the investigation) will lead us”, Rohee told reporters the available and emerging evidence indicates that the arson was “obviously conceived within a political context”. “…the intellectual authors of the act have been established”, he declared.
Greene said the disappearance of the two men from the Providence lockups has triggered serious concern, adding that there was no sign of breakage at the lockups and the men simply vanished while the corporal and the other cop were on duty. He said the corporal and the other rank have been arrested and are being questioned about the disappearance of the two men.
The commissioner said police are working on a theory that the two were removed from the lockups “by some corrupt means”. He said the firebombing was “carefully planned and executed” and suspects detained have given statements implicating other central players.
“We are still looking for at least two other key players who we feel can assist us in this investigation…We feel we have a lot more to unearth based on statements that have been made in this matter as to who is supporting what took place at the Ministry of Health. We have that in writing”, he said.
Rohee said the “well-orchestrated and planned activity” was conceived by some well-known persons who hired underlings to set fire to the Health Ministry. He said the network included the intellectual authors, planners, recruiters and those who carried out the act.
There were active and passive players behind the firebombing plot and police have a “fairly good grasp” of their network, he added. “Let the chips fall where they may”, he offered in response to a question about how high the investigation could lead. He also commended the Police Force for its excellent work in unraveling the case so far.
“It shows that our force has now reached a level where they can crack an activity like this in such a short period…and that speaks well for the organization”, he said. Greene said evidence points to a clear pattern in the July 17 pre-dawn torching of the building and those who recruited others for the plot told them they did not like the government and they were going to set cars on fire and create diversions.
“Initially some of the people were told `we’re going to burn cars’ and then subsequently, when pulled together”, it ended up in the burning of the Health Ministry in which Molotov cocktails (channa bombs) were used, he said.
According to the top cop, those recruited were promised payment for their services and some have confessed to receiving money for their part in the plot. Rohee said some of the underlings were sent to buy bottles, gasoline and channa and the police have information about where and when meetings for the planning were held and with whom.
Greene said the police have clear evidence of persons “entering the building and doing what they had to do”. He told reporters some employees of the ministry are also to be questioned in relation to the fire. The firebombing triggered heightened security at all government facilities and key installations, including Guyana Elections Commission offices, he said.
President Bharrat Jagdeo, after the fire, said several channa bombs were located in the compound and investigations pointed to a “deliberate act”. Asked if the firebombing may be part of a bigger plot, he said then: “We can’t take chances – so no stone is being left unturned”.
“…no angle is left out from the investigations…I have had extensive meetings with the security forces and we are going to get to the bottom of this and we are going to get the people who did this”, the President vowed. He announced a $25M reward for any information that could help track and convict those who committed “this atrocious act”.
Health Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, at a press conference after the fire, said the blaze started on the upper floor of the main building in the complex. The complex that was gutted by the blaze that started around 3am, housed the offices of Ramsammy and senior ministry officers and four other annexes.
Three other buildings in the compound were slightly damaged, including one in the southeastern corner of the compound in which an incendiary device was placed. Greene yesterday said security guards on duty at the Health Ministry appeared to have been sleeping when the fire began. (Guyana Cronicle/Sonnel Nelson photo)
Police hunting arson suspects.....
..... who escaped from Providence Police station
Polics are hunting two escapees from the Providence Police station suspected to have been involved in the Ministry of Health fire which flattened parts of the building.
Colin Jones called “Bonny” and Kurt Thierens called “Bage” or “Glasses” are wanted by the police for ‘escaping from lawful custody’ on Sunday.
Police, in a Bulletin last evening, described Jones as 20-years-old, born October 31, 1988, of Lot 3 West La Penitence, Georgetown. He is thin built, of African descent, 5 feet 6 inches in height with black hair.
Police gave his father’s name as Colin Jones, mother’s name as Allison Simpson, brother’s name as Jaffar Simpson and his sister’s name as Jennifer Jones, all of the same address as the escapee, with the exception of the father.
Thierens, called “Bage” or “Glasses”, is said to be 31 years old, born July 17, 1978, of Lot 102 Middle Walk, Buxton; Lot 7 National Avenue, Triumph, also on the East Coast of Demerara; and Lot 219 Residential Area, Yarrowkabra, Soesdyke/Linden Highway.
According to the Police, Thierens is of African descent, with black hair, brown eyes, slim built and is 5 feet 6 inches in height. His mother’s name is given as Daphne Garner, father’s name as Oswald Thierens and his wife’s name is given as Cheryl Thierens.
Police is asking anyone with information that may lead to the arrest of Colin Jones and or Kurt Thierens to contact them on telephone numbers 225-6411, 225-2700, 226-2917, 225-8196, 227-2128, 225-6941 to 3, 911 or the nearest police station. The Police said all information will be treated with strict confidence. (Guyana Cronicle)
July 25, 2009
‘Biscuit’ dies in hospital
Prison service concerned over poison reports
David Leander
Murder accused David Leander called ‘Biscuit’ and ‘David Zammet’, died yesterday around 9.30 am in the Male Surgical Ward of the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH) where he was admitted last Thursday after he was suspected to have been poisoned.
According to a press release from the office of the Director of Prisons, two weeks before he was hospitalized, Leander complained of feeling unwell.
On Thursday, July 9, he was referred to the GPH where he was treated and returned to the Georgetown Prison. The release said Leander was again referred and admitted to the hospital last Thursday and remained there until his death yesterday morning.
The prison administration expressed concern about comments made in the media which suggested that the prisoner might have been poisoned.
The release stated that during his brief illness, Leander made no complaints or comments to the prison administration as to the nature of his illness.
It said that on his admission to the prison, Leander requested to receive meals from his relatives who were authorized to do so. This practice continued until the time of his demise, the release said. His relatives including an aunt, Evelyn Estwick, who had been at his bedside every day since his admission to the hospital last week, were hysterical yesterday morning at the GPH’s morgue where Leander’s body was taken after he was pronounced dead.
Estwick said she visited her nephew at the hospital yesterday around 5 am and was at his bedside for about an hour. Between 9.30 and 10 am yesterday, the woman said, she received a call from the hospital and someone informed her that Leander had died. She and other relatives were visibly upset yesterday at the hospital morgue after they were prevented from viewing the man’s body.
Asked for a comment on the passing of Leander yesterday morning at a PNCR press conference, Opposition Leader Robert Corbin said one has to be concerned when a prisoner, who while in the custody of the state and who is presumed innocent until proven guilty, is poisoned. He said his death “casts suspicion on what is taking place in the judicial system”. He called it a very worrying development.
Corbin likened Leander’s illness and passing to that of Mark Thomas called ‘Kerzorkee’, one of three ‘death squad’ accused, who died at the GPH on February 1, 2004 weeks after he was rushed to that medical institution. His death remains a mystery with many saying that he was killed so that he would not be able to say what he knew about the squad.
Corbin said that at the time, Thomas was “a very vital person”, who would have provided evidence on the existence of a death squad. He also said that the murder of self-confessed death squad informant George Bacchus, whose brother Shafeek Bacchus, Thomas and two others had been accused of murdering, bore similarities to that of Leander.
After his admission to the GPH last Thursday morning, Leander appeared to have been recovering from his sickness and on Monday afternoon, he was sitting on his hospital bed, chatting with relatives.
However, the man’s condition took a turn for the worse earlier this week when he fell into a coma. There has not yet been an explanation for why he remained in the open ward up to his death since he was in such a serious condition.
Estwick had told Stabroek News on Tuesday that the doctor who was attending to her 29-year-old nephew told them that the man had suffered kidney failure and that he was in a coma. She said the doctor did not explain what led to this development in the man’s condition. She said the doctor also informed her that Leander had suffered a blood clot in one of his feet and as such “they had to burst the bottom of his foot”.
Estwick had also brushed aside assertions that her nephew was diabetic, stating that when he was severely beaten after being apprehended, she had checked his blood sugar level which was verified by a doctor to be normal.
Leander’s death leaves a hole in the case for which he was before the courts, that of the murders of former agriculture minister Satyadeow Sawh, his brother Rajpat Sawh, his sister Phulmattie Persaud and his security guard Curtis Robertson which occurred on the evening of April 22, 2007 at the Sawhs’ La Bonne intention (LBI) residence.
The police had issued wanted bulletins for Leander and several other high-profile wanted men and a $2 million reward was offered for the capture of Leander, Jermaine ‘Skinny’ Charles, Rondell ‘Fineman’ Rawlins, Orlando Andrews called ‘Bullet’ or ‘Jeffrey’ of Buxton, ‘Cash’ of Buxton, ‘Not Nice’ of Buxton and ‘Sonny’ of Agricola.
Rawlins and Charles, who was also before the courts in relation to the LBI murders before he escaped from the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court, were subsequently killed during a shootout with the joint services on the Linden/Soesdyke Highway last August.
Leander was captured during a joint services operation in Buxton which resulted in the death of Noel ‘Baby’ James who had been recently released from prison after serving a sentence for simple larceny, and Andrews who was wanted in connection with a number of murders.
When the Vigilance, East Coast Demerara resident, had first appeared in the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court on November 8, 2007 in relation to the LBI murders, he displayed visible injuries about his body and could hardly walk. His attorney had held the police responsible for beating Leander while he was in custody. He was later admitted to the GPH following an order by Justice Jainarayan Singh Jr.
Allegations of him being beaten while in custody were again presented before Magistrate Yohhannseh Cave when the Preliminary Inquiry (PI) commenced at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court.
Last Monday, when the PI continued at that court, Magistrate Cave ruled that an oral statement purportedly made by Leander was inadmissible in the PI. The accused was admitted to the hospital several days later when his relatives alleged that he had been poisoned. Leander leaves to mourn three children — the eldest being a six-year-old daughter — his mother and other siblings. A post-mortem examination is expected to be performed on Monday. (Stabroek News)
July 24, 2009
Man in custody over murder of NY Guyanese designer
Leonard Taylor
A man is now in custody following the execution-style killing of a Guyanese-born New York City clothing entrepreneur Sven Hinds back in May.
The body of Hinds was discovered on May 4, in a remote wooded area along Courses Landing Road, in Carneys Point, New Jersey, according to a report in the New Jersey newspaper, Today’s Sunbeam.
According to the newspaper report, twenty-three year-old Leonard Taylor of Anderson Court in Bear, Delaware has been charged with the murder of Hinds. Taylor is suspected to be a Bloods gang member.
According to the report, Taylor is currently being held at the Harford County Detention Center in Bel Air, Md., on a probation violation. He is awaiting extradition on charges of first-degree murder and weapons offenses, said Carneys Point Police Lt. Robert DiGregorio.
Hinds had been shot twice in the back of the head and once in the temple, police said. When he was found, he was clad only in his T-shirt and underwear, while his head and feet were wrapped in black trash bags. Authorities had taken approximately four weeks to identify Hinds as the victim.
A motive at this point is still unknown. According to police, their investigation traced Taylor and Hinds to the Super 8 Motel at 268 East Main Street in Newark, Del., on the weekend of May 3.
Dead: Sven Hinds
Police said that Hinds had made statements to acquaintances in the weeks leading up to his death relaying that he feared for his life. It is unclear at this point if he had any involvement with the Bloods organization.
Taylor had apparently rented a room there. Crime scene processing performed by Newark police confirmed evidence of human blood inside the room where they stayed. Further DNA analysis is pending, police said.
Hinds migrated to the USA with his family in 1987, according to the Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy (CGID). Since then he started three clothing lines in the New York City area: Brooklyn Fly, Money Making Men and AGEIZM. CGID President Rickford Burke had previously announced that communities both in the U.S. and abroad were keeping a close eye on the investigation.
In a statement issued last month by the CGID on the family’s behalf, it explained that loved ones were concerned that Hinds had not been in communication with his family for a number of weeks, but did not raise an alarm as he resided on his own in Queens, N.Y., and frequently travelled to promote his clothing line. (Stabroek News)
July 21, 2009
Enterprise woman beaten to death by son
Suffered years of abuse
Ramattie Deonauth
Unthinkable, bizarre and unforgiveable are only a few of the words which observers used yesterday to describe the manner in which a 55-year-old mother of four met her demise on Sunday night, after suffering years of domestic abuse at the hands of one of her children.
Dead is Ramattie Deonauth, of Lot 41 Croal Street, Enterprise, East Coast Demerara, who according to the police, was discovered motionless in her bed around 5 am yesterday.
Speaking at his mother’s home last evening, Davendra Deonauth told this newspaper that his mother had been suffering years of abuse at the hands of his elder brother He said his mother did domestic work around the village to support her family, adding that his father is paralysed from the waist down and is confined to his bed.
His father, Siew Deonauth, told this newspaper last evening that his son often took advantage of his ailment and would beat him and his wife whenever he went home under the influence of alcohol.
Darshanie (only name given), a family friend who lived with the deceased, recounting the events leading to her friend’s death, stated that the woman’s son had been drinking during the day on Sunday at a nearby “wedding house”. She said he returned home around 3 pm and asked his mother for his food. The woman said Deonauth told her son that she had not prepared any food for him since there was nothing in the kitchen to cook.
Darshanie said that the man then started to assault his mother, which she noted was a normal occurrence, kicking and cuffing her about her body in the process. She said he also turned his attention to his father but following the intervention of neighbours, he left the house.
The woman’s husband stated that his son returned home around 8:30 pm and continued to physically assault his mother, demanding that she prepare his dinner. He said his son hit him several times about his body after he reprimanded him for hitting his mother. The widower related that his son then pulled the woman into her bedroom and after bolting the door, he mercilessly beat her about her body. He said the loud music being played at a nearby house drowned out his voice as he tried to call out to neighbours for assistance.
During this time, Darshanie related, she was hiding under the victim’s bed as the man trampled on his mother, even as the hapless woman cried out for help. She said he tore her clothes off her body in the process, while slamming her head on whatever surface he could find, screaming several expletives as he brutalised her. She said that after about an hour, he left the house, leaving his motionless mother on the floor.
Davendra told this newspaper that around 5.30 am yesterday his elder brother went over to his Enterprise Gardens home and in tears informed him that his mother was dead. He said he immediately went over to his mother’s home where his worst fears were confirmed.
The man said that his brother slept in another room while his father slept outside on the floor. He opined that his brother may only have realised what he had done when he woke up yesterday morning. He said his parents were very poor and his brother, who should have been providing for them, “only keep beating them when he want he own way.”
He said his brother, who lived with their parents all his life, would physically abuse his mother whenever he went home from the cane fields, where he works as a cane cutter, and found no food on the table. He said he and his sister made reports to the Vigilance Police Station on a number of occasions on his brother’s treatment towards their mother but she would plead with the police to release him since she would often say that he was her son.
The woman’s relatives told Stabroek News that the man tried to persuade his father several times yesterday morning not to tell anyone what transpired. They said that he also tried to escape from the village but was stopped by his relatives. According to the police, the suspect is in police custody assisting with investigations.
Recently, there has been an increase in the number of women who met their demise after suffering years of abuse. However, in those cases the victims suffered at the hands of their partners. (Alva Solomon/Stabroek News)
July 18, 2009
Health Ministry channa bombed
Fire ripping away at the main building at the Ministry of Health and an annex. (photo: Brenon Sookram)
A huge fire sparked by channa bombs completely destroyed the Ministry of Health’s main building at Brickdam and an annex early yesterday morning, devouring decades-old records, vehicles and a string of key divisions in a major blow to the health sector.
The raging inferno erupted some time before 3 am and rumbled on for three hours amid a downpour and a valiant campaign by the Guyana Fire Service to save three buildings in the ministry’s southern wing and its immediate neighbour, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC).
The conflagration levelled the offices of two ministers, permanent secretary, chief medical officer and administrative staff, the Registry, Disease Control Unit, Adolescent Health Unit, Tobacco Control Unit, Standards Department and a section of the Accounts Department in ruins.
The Ministry of Health maintained records for health professionals and from health centres across the country. It was also housing some records for the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation. However, a portion of the records destroyed were computerized and can be retrieved from a back-up system which was saved.
The police in a statement last night said that patrols arrived at the scene at about five minutes after a report had been made to 911 and saw the top flat of the main building engulfed in flames.
A distressed Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, Minister of Health surveying the scene yesterday morning. (photo: Brenon Sookram)
“On checking around the compound they discovered a large bottle along with what smelt like a flammable substance with channa and a wick. Further checks were made around the compound and two security guards were seen.
They alleged that they saw smoke at the top flat of the building and raised an alarm. A third guard was later found at the Hadfield Street entrance and he alleged that he had gone to release vehicles from the compound into Hadfield Street.
“The main building was extensively burnt, also four vehicles in the compound were damaged. A room in a building south east of the main building was scorched. The louvre windows were discovered damaged and pieces of glass and channa were found on the inside and outside of the building.
“Several items inside the room such as condoms and medical equipment were damaged. The damage was not caused by the fire emanating from the main building. In fact the fire from the main building never reached that building.
“A further search of the compound unearthed a bag with two complete bottles with a suspected flammable substance, wicks and channa and three broken bottles with channa. “Up to this afternoon fire service personnel and police ranks were still combing the scene”, the police said.
Two of the buildings spared were handed over to the ministry for use but a third is still under investigation after an explosive device was linked to the building. Questions have since been raised about security and where exactly the security officers on duty were at the time of the alleged attack. There are also concerns as to the reaction time of the officers and how soon the fire service was alerted.
Health Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy seemed assured yesterday that after the police completed their investigative work it would be found that there had been security breaches. He said security has always been a problem for the ministry, adding that only recently a new firm had been contracted.
He said the health sector is often at the centre of threats whenever there is unrest in the country adding that whenever there is protest action people would pass and throw remarks such as, “you’re next” in reference to the ministry. But there had been no such threats in the past few months, he said.
According to the minister, if the ministry was directly targeted, “it is sad and despicable” because the ministry does not belong to a political party or one group.
The Ministry of Health building on Brickdam alight early yesterday morning shortly after flames erupted in the upper flat. (Iana Seales photo)
Ramsammy declared that the Ministry of Health is the property of the people of Guyana and that it serves a public good, and he questioned why anyone would want to make that ministry a target or any other ministry.
“Why this ministry? Why the Ministry of Housing or why any building?” he asked yesterday recalling that a fire had also destroyed the housing ministry on Homestretch Avenue a few years ago.
He also dismissed questions pointing to recent allegations surrounding him saying that there can be no possible link to the fire. “Let us not go stretching and looking for a story that is not there. It is an absurd story… I am done with that,” the minister said.
Ramsammy called the press conference at the National AIDS Programme Secretariat (NAPS) to say that the work of his ministry continues. He said the ministry is not intimidated and was focused on being fully operational again by next Monday.
No chance
It is unclear at what time the fire service was alerted about the fire but when the first tender arrived at the scene the ministry was already engulfed in flames and “well on its way” to burning flat, according to a fireman at the scene. He said that the ministry had no chance of surviving the blaze even with the greatest of efforts.
Deputy Fire Chief Winston McGregor in an interview at the scene told reporters that the first of five fire tenders deployed to the scene started rolling from the central base within seconds of the call, but turned up and met a building well ablaze. However, he said the fire service’s operational strategy was put in place to contain the blaze, adding that firemen fought hard to reduce the damage.
McGregror told reporters at the scene that the fire service would have been able to do much more in terms of a response had it been notified earlier. “The men worked well,” he said while noting that his comments can be termed as subjective.
A view of the eastern section of the Ministry of Health as it burned yesterday morning. (Iana Seales photo)
A flaming early morning sky and thick smoke covered the upper half of Brickdam at around 3:15 am when Stabroek News arrived on the scene. The fire service was already in firefighting mode and had surrounded the ministry using Brickdam and Hadfield streets.
Brickdam and its environs were blanketed in darkness following a power cut, illuminated only by the fire gutting the building. An intense heat drove back curious onlookers, barring anyone from proceeding beyond the Independence Arch at the head of Brickdam yet a handful of determined residents pressed forward to get a closer look.
The old wooden superstructure of the ministry started to disintegrate within some 30 minutes of the fire; the eastern section caved in first. It was about 3:40 am when the eastern section housing Ramsammy’s office among others collapsed.
With manpower of close to 50 and generators pumping water from the Brickdam and Hadfield Street drains, the fire service moved swiftly and after an hour was able to reduce the threat to neighbouring buildings and the southern wing.
Residents eager to assist charged into the ministry’s compound from the Hadfield Street gate and jumped right into fire-fighting mode. Other residents realized that the vehicles in the compound were at risk and immediately started a mad rush to save them.
The scene was a chaotic one as employees of the ministry who had gathered at the scene and residents in the area rushed to clear the compound of vehicles. Keys which are usually stored at the security hut in the compound were missing, forcing the staff to push several vehicles out of the compound.
Ramsammy yesterday confirmed that the ministry had lost three fairly new vehicles assigned to the National Blood Transfusion Service, which were in the western section of the compound, but he said they managed to save 50 other vehicles.
Emotional
Ramsammy gave a brief interview at 4:10 am when the fire had already destroyed the main and annex buildings. He told reporters that it was difficult to watch the buildings go down and feel helpless at the same time. He recalled leaving the office at 10 pm on Thursday along with his driver and two secretaries only to receive a call later that the ministry was burning.
Since he was the last employee at the ministry to leave Ramsammy has been asked to provide a statement to the police. He said yesterday that his driver and his two secretaries would also give statements.
“I wish I was there, but don’t know what I would have done anyway,” Ramsammy said shrugging his shoulders. He was being comforted every few minutes by staff and colleague ministers who arrived on the scene as the word spread.
Public Service Minister Dr Jennifer Westford was among the first to show up followed by Human Services Minister Priya Manickchand. Some time after Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee and Culture Minister Dr Frank Anthony turned up. Ramsammy appeared to have been doing okay though he looked distressed, but shortly after during another on-the-spot interview with reporters he broke down.
Teary-eyed and visibly emotional Ramsammy pointed to the burning building and said, “My life’s work is in there. A lifetime of work is in there”. He referred to the fire as a significant setback, but vowed that the ministry’s work “must continue”.
Shaking his head and with his eyes lowered the minister called the fire a tragedy saying that its impact is devastating. He noted he had been minister of health for ten years. The Health Ministry was one of the few surviving structures considered part of the national heritage of the country. The building had once housed Queen’s College.
Support
Ramsammy mentioned that he had received a tremendous amount of support within hours of the fire saying that everyone seemed genuinely affected. He said yesterday that the staff of the ministry has been “focused and committed to the process of moving forward” from the minute they realized that the ministry was no more.
Firefighters and residents pushing a vehicle to safety from the Ministry of Health compound while the fire raged early yesterday morning. (Photo by Brenon Sookram)
He said he had received calls from donor partners and technical partners in and outside the country. Specifically, he noted that he received calls from Dr Margaret Chan, Director General of the World Health Organisation and Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS.
He said too that telephone calls also came from colleague ministers in the Caribbean all expressing solidarity. Ramsammy said that he was moved by the support, but he was particularly touched when ordinary citizens made contact to say how affected they were. At the press briefing, he disclosed that he was meeting with technical and donor partners in the afternoon to discuss a way forward and to “begin the work of rebuilding the ministry of health”.
‘I saw smoke’
Stabroek News spoke with one of the security officers on duty at the time and the woman recalled seeing smoke some time after 2 am coming from the top flat of the building. She was at the security hut at the main entrance of the ministry and according to her, no flames were visible at that time. “I only see smoke; so I call the base and tell them call the fire service,” she recounted.
She was a bit flustered but related that two other security personnel were at the back of the building making routine checks when the fire broke out. According to her, efforts to locate the other officers later proved futile. However, at his press conference Ramsammy said there were only two security guards. He could not say if the guards had also been questioned by the police.
Some of the unexploded channa bombs retrieved in the compound of the Ministry of Health. (Police photo)
The woman insisted that she saw nothing strange on Brickdam saying that she had no idea what the other security officers saw while making checks at the back. She was unable to say how soon the fire service arrived after she contacted her security base.
The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) released a statement yesterday saying that it was saddened by the destruction of the building and concerned at the initial evidence that pointed to the work of arsonists and terrorists.
The party said the building was one of the nation’s beautiful pieces of architectural heritage and called on the security forces to thoroughly investigate the incident and bring the perpetrator/s to justice. Additionally, the party said that the fire has coincided with “attempts by some fringe elements to try to heat up the political situation.
“The demonstrations and provocations of the police were no doubt deliberate to court arrest in the hope of gaining support. It appears to have been intentionally designed to create an atmosphere for arson and terrorism in the society,” the statement said. Meanwhile Opposition Leader Robert Corbin speaking yesterday on the incident said the nation could ill afford such destruction at this time.
Speaking at the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) weekly press briefing, Corbin told reporters that he was unaware of the origin of the fire, but noted that other mysterious fires had haunted other government buildings and ministries over the years. He also expressed hope that the fire is investigated thoroughly. (Iana Seales/Stabroek News)
Sixteen years after killing girlfriend,.....
..... fugitive from justice gets 10 years
Harold Dey
Harold Dey, who had murdered his girlfriend Samantha Gordon at their home on the Corentyne on March 9, 1998 and failed in a suicide bid before fleeing to the interior where he married and fathered a child prior to being held in September 2005, was yesterday sentenced to 10 years jail.
He appeared before Justice Winston Patterson at the Berbice Assizes. Dey, who was initially charged with murder, had on June 30 last confessed to the lesser count of manslaughter which was accepted by State Counsel Fabayo Azore. Defence Counsel Michael Baird in a mitigation plea said the act was the result of a secret love affair and acknowledged that his client was jealous.
This was his first infringement of the law and after being confronted with the magnitude of his folly, Dey was deeply sorry, the defence counsel told the court, adding that the man in the dock had been a remanded prisoner for four years. According to Baird, Dey had to live with the fact that a life had been lost at his hands.
Asked by the judge what he had to say prior to sentencing, Dey quickly stood in the dock and using a notebook he narrated his story which lasted almost half an hour. On completion the judge commented on his excellent diction. The notebook was later passed around the court on instructions from the judge who also noted the prisoner’s calligraphy.
Dey, reading from a notepad which he bought from the prison shop, said that as a child he had watched his father instill moral values and discipline into his older siblings along with the necessary education for career guidance. However, throughout his school life he secretly competed with his classmates to be number one and was successful to an extent that he was an ‘A’ student.
At age fifteen, his desire was to become a lawyer or an accountant but because of an economic crisis that was not attainable. However Dey said he was a trained boiler operator and a specialist in timber seasoning. “When someone errs they are most times judged harshly and punished by traditional criminal justice which at times is severe,” related the prisoner as he paused, looking towards the judge.
The prisoner said further, “I am a staunch practicing Christian. There is forgiveness, there is washing, there is cleansing, there is restoration and there is refinement in Jesus. God gives us the opportunity to change and repent.” As a remanded prisoner, Dey recalled that he was selected to do infrastructure work due to his conduct and professional skills.
“Living in prison has challenges, however attitudes, systems and cultures in prison do not help in reformation … I need the opportunity to speak for the voiceless, that will result in education and transformation. It is my desire to speak the gospel of Christ which brings peace and salvation….I am a mature man, aged 43 years. I am fully developed, physically and mentally and I stand to face the penalty.”
In a plea for leniency, he described the commission of the offence “as senseless, a blunder in his life,” and expressed regret to his relatives and those of the deceased as well as his immediate family.
In a statement taken on September 12, 2005, Dey confessed to chopping Gordon with a cutlass and then he drank Shelltox in a suicide bid, but said he was taken to the New Amsterdam hospital where the insecticide was flushed out of his body and he subsequently fled to the interior. (Stabroek News)
July 13, 2009
Good Hope businessman murdered
Found in car trunk with plastic taped over head
Ramzan Alli
Ramzan Alli, a Good Hope businessman, was yesterday discovered dead in the trunk of a rental car with a plastic bag duct-taped over his head on the Coldingen Railway Embankment Road.
The 45-year-old man, of Kissoon’s Housing Scheme, Good Hope, East Coast Demerara, (ECD) left his home on Saturday night after receiving a call. Alli’s death comes almost a year after his brother, scrap metal dealer Akbar Alli, was fatally shot during a daring daylight robbery on Brickdam, Georgetown.
Police in a press statement last evening said they are investigating the murder of Alli. The man’s body, according to them, was found at about 8.30 am yesterday on the Coldingen Railway Embankment Road in the trunk of a motor car which Alli had rented. A plastic bag held in place by duct tape was tied over Alli’s head, police said.
Investigations have revealed that the man left his home about 9.20 pm on Saturday after receiving a phone call. After Alli failed to returned home, police said, relatives and employees conducted a search yesterday morning and found the rental vehicle on the road.
The police were subsequently informed and a search later revealed Alli’s body in the trunk. Alli’s body was taken to the Lyken’s Funeral Parlour. Police are awaiting the results of a post-mortem examination and investigations are ongoing.
There were no visible marks of violence on Alli’s body, a source said last evening, and the man’s hands and feet were not bound. The man, the source explained, “most likely died of suffocation”. “There was only a plastic bag over his head which was duct-taped to his neck,” the source reported, “other than that there was nothing else on his body, no bindings, no wounds, no nothing.”
Alli’s wife and a male relative were seen in the back of a police van exiting the Good Hope housing scheme when Stabroek News visited the area yesterday. This newspaper later learnt from relatives that the woman was on her way to the station to give police a statement. “We weren’t here so we can’t say anything,” one relative said yesterday. “They just took his [Alli’s] wife to the station to give a statement and there is no one else here who can say anything.”
Asked about the type of business Alli conducted, relatives said, “It is not our place to say”. However, Stabroek News was reliably informed that the man transported fuel, groceries and other items to the North West District to sell.
Alli leaves to mourn his wife, three sons and two daughters. Stabroek News understands that when the man left his home on Saturday he did not tell his family where he was going. As it grew late, reports said, Alli’s wife tried to contact him on his mobile but he could not be reached. The man, this newspaper learnt, would habitually turn off his cellular phone whenever he left the house for business. Sources say police will be likely tracking down the person who called him on Saturday night for further clues.
Relatives were also not able to say whether Alli left his home with cash or other valuables or whether anything might have gone missing. Meanwhile, police have given no indication that the man might have been robbed before his death.
An East Coast resident, who drove past the Coldingen area shortly before 1 am yesterday, reported seeing a car parked there. The resident explained that they did not stop to investigate because it was late and they saw no sign that anyone was in or out of the vehicle. While it is possible that it might have been Alli’s rental car, the resident said, they are in no position to “vouch for that”.
The time and place of Alli’s murder is uncertain. A police source has since indicated that it is possible that Alli may have been murdered at a different location and then abandoned on the lonely Coldingen road. There are no occupied dwellings very close to the area where Alli’s rental car was discovered. The man’s younger brother, 35-year-old Akbar Alli, died on July 24 last year after sustaining a single, fatal gunshot wound to the chest shortly after 1 pm that day.
Police, in statement issued hours after Akbar Alli’s death, said their investigations revealed that the man and his wife went to a city bank where they transacted some business. They then went to another city bank and then proceeded to Brickdam with the intention of transacting business with an auto dealer.
Alli, police had said, parked his motor vehicle and he and his wife, who was holding a bag containing $2.1 million were about to exit the vehicle when two men rode up on a motorcycle. The pillion rider, who was armed with a handgun, held them up and took away the bag and the men then rode away. Alli began running behind the motorcycle and the armed man then shot him in his chest. (Sara Bharrat/Stabroek News)
July 9, 2009
After US drug charge…
Ghalee Khan remanded here over trafficking
Ghalee Khan
Drug trafficking accused Ghalee Khan, who was busted in the US last November and later charged with jumping bail, appeared at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court yesterday on a drug charge.
Khan, 31, of 198 Cane View Avenue, South Ruimveldt is accused of supplying a convicted prisoner with cocaine and was remanded to prison by Magistrate Hazel Octive-Hamilton. He pleaded not guilty to the charge of trafficking in narcotics when it was read to him.
It is alleged that on October 23, 2008 at Diamond, East Bank Demerara, Khan had in his possession 3 kilos, 408 grammes of cocaine to supply to convicted prisoner Orlando Dwayne Humphrey also known as Dwayne Ifill.
Attorney-at-law Glenn Hanoman represented Khan and made an application for reasonable bail to be granted. Hanoman told the court that Khan has no antecedents and he will return to court for his trial. The attorney’s application was denied by Magistrate Octive-Hamilton. The matter was transferred to the Providence Magistrate’s Court where Khan will appear on July 10.
A US court issued arrest warrants for Khan, a Guyanese businessman and promoter, and his alleged co-conspirator Danvor Griffith after they failed to show up for their court hearing after being granted bail
In early March, the prosecutors in their case said they would present a superseding indictment asking for the forfeiture of their bail. The two men, who were arrested last November, failed to make their court appearances after Justice Ramon E. Reyes granted them bail. Khan was granted bail in the sum of US$200,000 and while Griffith’s bail was US$250,000.
According to the bail jumping charge, the two, having been released on bail “…knowingly and intentionally failed to appear before the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York as required by the conditions of [their] release…” It was stated that the two are charged with offences punishable by imprisonment of 15 years or more.
Khan and Griffith were jointly charged with conspiracy to import cocaine, importation of cocaine and conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Khan was separately charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute while Griffith was charged with attempted possession of cocaine with intent to distribute.
One of the conditions of them being granted bail was that they were not to make contact with each other. They had not been seen or heard from since and their attorneys and relatives have told authorities they do not know where they are. Stabroek News was reliably informed that Khan has been in police custody since last Wednesday. The man, sources said, was apprehended in Georgetown and had entered Guyana on June 30.
Meanwhile with regard to the US drug charge, Khan and Griffith were reportedly tracked after leaving Guyana but were allowed to leave the John. F. Kennedy airport to make the drop before they were busted. Khan was under surveillance as he travelled on a flight from Trinidad to the US. Court records had indicated that after Khan arrived in the US, federal agents detected cocaine stashed in the rails and handles of his suitcase but allowed him to leave the airport to make the delivery. (Stabroek News)
On trial for rape, Uncle ‘Boy Boy’ commits suicide
Harold Captain
A 66-year-old man, who was on trial before the Berbice Assizes for the 2005 rape of a girl who was then ten years old, hanged himself on a tree in his backyard some time between Tuesday night and yesterday morning.
Harold Captain, called ‘Boy Boy’ of Kiltairn village was discovered hanging from a genip tree in the backyard by his daughter early yesterday morning, his brother, Randolph Captain, said.
His brother was charged in 2005 with having carnal knowledge of a girl under 12 years old and had been remanded to prison. After two months on remand, he was granted bail and following a preliminary inquiry, was ordered to stand trial in the High Court.
The trial started on Tuesday.
Randolph Captain said that on Tuesday his brother’s lawyer had asked for some $600,000 and the family talked it over on Tuesday evening and assured ‘Boy Boy’ that everything would go well. He said though that his brother remained uneasy despite the assurances.
On Tuesday night, Randolph Captain said, ‘Boy Boy’ made phone calls to all of his brothers and his close relatives and said goodbye to them, but none of them imagined that he would have hanged himself.
He said that yesterday morning the family found a suicide note in which Harold Captain maintained that he was innocent of the charges and urged that his family take the money they would have given to the lawyer and spend it in a better way.
Meanwhile, when the accused did not appear in court yesterday, Justice Winston Patterson questioned his lawyer Rodwell Jugmohan about his client’s absence. The defence attorney replied, “Sir, I am unable to give account for my client. However I am reliably informed that he committed suicide last night [Tuesday]. As a result I have not seen him here or any of his relatives.”
On an application by State Counsel Fabayo Azore, Woman Corporal Margo Grovesnor , Subordinate Officer (SO) attached to the Supreme Court Outpost, then took the stand. She testified that at 06:30 hrs she received a telephone call from the SO of the Number 51 Police Station.
He related that Natasha Captain of Brighton Village, Corentyne, who is the daughter of Harold Captain said she last spoke to him at 23:00 hrs on Tuesday. At about 06:00 hrs yesterday, she observed him hanging from a genip tree at the back of their yard. A polythene rope was tied around his neck.
Consequently Justice Patterson aborted the trial. On Tuesday when the trial commenced, cross-examination of the virtual complainant (VC) was deferred by the defence counsel, who needed further instructions from his client.
The VC, who is now 15 years old, led in her evidence-in-chief by Azore, related that on October 5, 2004, Uncle ‘Boy Boy’ had pulled her into his house and sexually abused her. The child who was in Grade Six at the time, told the court that she was sent on an errand by her grandmother when another relative sent her to Uncle `Boy Boy’.
She said the accused was known to her for a long time. “Since I was a little girl coming up,” she said. The VC recalled that she was standing three steps from his house, when the accused held her right hand and pulled her into his house. He carried her to his bedroom where he removed his jersey, pants and brief.
In tears, she told the court that she felt pain as the accused committed the act “and I buckle up”. She said he “covered my mouth with his hands so I could not make a sound”. She also told the court that the accused later wiped her off and rubbed her with some coconut oil before giving her $1,000 to share equally with her cousin.
“I was standing on the sand, whilst he was on the step by the backdoor when a girl named Rachel was passing through the yard. He put his hand to his lips, indicating that I must not tell.” She said he told her to tell her relative that he would take the chicken feed on his return from work that afternoon.
She said she then went home, had a bath and left for school without telling her grandmother what had transpired because she was afraid. Instead, she showed the money to a schoolmate who informed their class teacher.
“At first I told my teacher that I had found the money on the road, but afterwards, in the presence of the Head Teacher, other teachers, my father, an aunt and my classmate, I told them Uncle `Boy Boy’ gave me. I also related to them what he did,” she testified.
She said she was then taken to the Number 51 Police station where a report was made and then to the Skeldon Hospital where a female doctor examined her, before issuing a certificate to a policewoman who had accompanied her. (Stabroek News)
July 5, 2009
Suriname accommodating to Guyanese immigrants
Runaldo Venetiaan
Surinamese President Runaldo Venetiaan yesterday expressed hope that Guyana and Suriname would continue to enjoy cordial relations and said that his country will continue to embrace an accommodating approach to Guyanese immigrants.
Venetiaan told reporters that “there was a time that being a Guyanese was bad news in Suriname” but this time had passed. He said things have developed to the point where Guyanese are respected in Suriname and are seen as persons who could contribute to the economic and administrative activities of that country.
However, he pointed out that the Surinamese government had some general guidelines or concerns as it related to the immigrants. He said the authorities would wish that the new groups of persons going into Suriname do so legally; that they respect the laws of the country, and that they keep things healthy within a social context with the people of Suriname.
The Surinamese Head of State acknowledged that the issue of the free movement was one of the heatedly discussed issues during the Caricom Heads of Government meeting which ended yesterday.
Sharing his personal views on the issue, Venetiaan said that persons needed to realize that there were constraints on some countries especially the ones with smaller economies, especially against the backdrop of the deterioration in the global economic situation.
He said it was understandable that some countries were examining the fact that people from other countries were taking away some of the opportunities usually afforded to nationals. But he was confident that Caricom will move forward with the schedule.
Meanwhile, when asked if he had any concerns about the treatment of Surinamese when they were detained over here, the Surinamese President said this was not a major concern. He said that that there were occasions when things went wrong and admitted that the converse was sometimes true, in terms of how Suriname treated Guyanese. (Stabroek News)
July 3, 2009
‘Blondie’ freed of porter murder charge
Judge slams police over suppressed evidence
Ashanti Schultz
Ashanti Schultz, who was accused of murdering a man during a shooting on Main Street in September 2007, was yesterday freed of the charge. Justice William Ramlal directed the jury to return a unanimous verdict of not guilty following no-case submissions made by her lawyer Nigel Hughes.
Addressing Schultz, popularly known as ‘Blondie’ after his ruling, the judge pointed out that the court can only make a decision based on the evidence presented and there was none to show that she was guilty.
Schultz, 28, a broker of 109 Eccles, East Bank Demerara was charged with the murder of Kenneth Nero in the September 16, 2007 incident. She first appeared before Justice Ramlal in the High Court on June 18, this year.
Kenneth Nero
Nero, a 58-year-old hospital porter was fatally wounded in an incident where it was reported that Schultz and other women were involved in an argument and she allegedly went to her car and took out the weapon. She then allegedly fired the shots hitting Nero, who was sitting next to a ticket booth outside the New Courtyard Restaurant and Bar.
The prosecution’s case, Justice Ramlal said yesterday, was “completely destroyed” by its witnesses who openly admitted to the court under oath that they had committed perjury. He further noted that the testimony of those witnesses revealed that evidence was “suppressed” during the preliminary inquiry (PI) conducted in the Magistrate’s Court and the testimonies of some of the police witnesses contradicted their testimonies given during the PI.
Police Lance Corporal Kennard Thompson and Police Constables Alton Sauers and Kenton De Younge, the judge said, “were unfair and prejudiced in their investigation”. Justice Ramlal informed the three policemen that he would ensure that copies of their testimonies are forwarded to the relevant authorities and will “strongly recommend” that they be charged with perjury and/or other relevant offences.
After the last witness testified in the High Court yesterday morning, the matter was adjourned to the afternoon session during which Hughes made no-case submissions. “It is impossible for me to rebut to the points raised by the lawyer,” was the only response State Prosecutor Ganesh Hira made to the submissions. Hughes’ submission was accepted by the judge who after a short adjournment gave his ruling.
Justice Ramlal, before his ruling, pointed out the inconsistency of the testimony of lead police investigator, Inspector Ludovick Scotland; the fact that during testimony Scotland revealed that his investigating team knew of another “potential suspect” before Schultz was charged with murder in 2007 and that an analyst’s report showed that no gunpowder residue was found on Schultz’s hands.
The trial
Scotland, currently attached to the Tactical Services Unit (TSU), was the seventh witness to be cross-examined during the trial on Tuesday. Police Ballistics Expert Eon Jackson, whose expertise was questioned by the defence on Monday, was cross-examined on Tuesday morning.
Sauers and De Younge, who were present at the Main Street location on the night of the shooting, testified earlier and Thompson, who had the gunpowder analyst’s report in his possession, testified yesterday morning.
Hughes, on Tuesday afternoon, questioned Scotland about statements he had received from “four people who claimed to be eyewitnesses” and whether those statements had identified another woman as the shooter; if and when the potential suspect was taken into police custody and if he [Scotland] was aware that the analyst’s report on swabs, which were rubbed on the hands of Schultz for possible gunpowder residue, was negative.
Scotland responded that “about four police investigators,” including him, were part of the team investigating the matter. “Five or six people who claimed to be eyewitnesses” to the shooting incident which occurred at a popular Georgetown bar, Scotland said, were interviewed by police. Four of those interviewed “identified a person other than the accused [Schultz] as the person involved in the shooting resulting in the death of Nero”.
Two of these four persons, Scotland told the court, gave written statements to the police shortly after the early morning shooting incident. Those two statements were in the police’s possession before 12 pm on September 16, 2007. Days later, the other two eyewitnesses submitted similar statements, thereby giving police concrete information that there was a potential suspect in the matter besides Schultz.
Scotland further testified that during the first week after the incident, despite several attempts, police were unable to locate the potential suspect. The potential suspect was found after Schultz was charged and taken before the magistrate’s court.
The potential suspect, Scotland said, was never arrested. When presented with records from the PI which showed that he had indicated to Magistrate Oneidge Walrond-Allicock under oath that he had arrested the potential suspect, Scotland denied this. Scotland further said that the potential suspect was never charged because of “directions” he had received.
According to information in the two statements on September 16, 2007 the potential suspect had a firearm. Both statements recorded that the potential suspect “took out the firearm and explosions” were heard shortly after.
By September 20, 2007 police received two additional statements which said that the potential suspect, and not Schultz, did the shooting. With regard to the analyst’s report on the gunpowder residue, the inspector had said that, despite being the officer in charge of the investigations, he had not seen the report until yesterday when it was presented to him in court but had been aware of the results.
Hughes then suggested to Scotland that his investigating team had deliberately suppressed evidence. Scotland denied that evidence was “suppressed”. Prosecutor Hira declined to re-examine the witness.
DPP and police investigation
“As if it were not enough,” Justice Ramlal said yesterday, referring to the evidence suppressed during the PI, “the accused was committed to stand trial and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) failed to carry out the constitutional and/or statutory mandate of that office by reviewing the file and exercising the statutory powers to direct the magistrate to reopen the PI.”
As the judge pointed out what he described as the failings of the DPP, he told Hira, “I admire your fervour in prosecuting the matter.” Justice Ramlal then advised the prosecutor not to take anything said as a personal attack. However, the judge was adamant that the DPP’s Chambers did not execute its duty. He described the DPP’s failure to review the file as “a negligent act and reckless performance of that office”.
In addition, Justice Ramlal continued, the police knew or had reasonable suspicion before and during the PI that there was a potential suspect in the shooting incident; and that the analyst’s report was negative. Justice Ramlal said the investigating team’s conduct was “repulsive and an unfair violation of legal principles.” The judge said the court “will not stand by and let the police get away with it.
If this is the quality of police investigation then more and more guilty persons are going to be walking the street”. Justice Ramlal said the courts would get “the bad name” for setting those persons free but it must be understood that the court can only function based on the evidence presented by the police.
Addressing his final remarks to Schultz, who periodically flicked tears from her face, Justice Ramlal admonished her to change her lifestyle. He explained to Schultz that the court can only act based on the evidence before it and while there is evidence which says that she was present at the scene there was none which says she committed the act.
Justice Ramlal pointed out that while Schultz had been found not guilty it “doesn’t mean you were not involved”. Schultz promised the judge she would change and with a smile, walked from the courtroom a free woman. Asked for a comment, she said, “God is in charge and all is well”. (Sara Bharrat/Stabroek News)
