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Prisoner died from clot in lungs
A post mortem examination performed on the body of former prisoner, Edwin Niles, has revealed that he died from a clot in the lungs due to burns about the back. He also sustained a fractured left arm.
The post mortem was performed by Government Pathologist Dr. Nehaul Singh yesterday.
Niles succumbed at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation last Friday while receiving medical treatment following alleged torture at the hands of the security forces, after a quantity of ammunition was found in a pair of pants he was wearing when he returned to the prison following an outdoor activity at army headquarters, Camp Ayanganna.
Police ranks have stated that the prisoner had shown evidence of having suffered a terrible beating when they went to the Camp Street Prison to collect him.
The ranks repeatedly denied that any injuries that Niles sustained occurred at the Brickdam Police Station.
The dead man’s relatives have accused the security services of beating and scalding him with hot water.
The PNCR and AFC have since leveled similar accusations against the Joint Services.
Police officials said that ranks from the Brickdam Police Station visited the Georgetown Prison at around 20:00 hrs on July 3, after prison officials informed them that they had caught an inmate, later identified as Edwin Niles, with ammunition.
This newspaper was told that the police ranks were taken to an office that appeared to be that of a senior prison official.
According to the sources, several soldiers and prison officers were with Niles. The sources recalled that Niles was shirtless and that his trousers and underwear were ‘hanging’ below his buttocks.
According to the sources, Niles was leaning against a wall and showed signs of having been severely injured.
“He was in a terrible state. His buttocks and shoulders were burnt,” one police officer said. According to the source, the burns on Niles’s buttocks were so severe that the skin had peeled off.
“He was bracing a wall. He could hardly stand. Every time he go to fall, they would push him to the wall.”
Kaieteur News understands that the police ranks were reluctant to take the injured prisoner to the Brickdam Police Station, but eventually did.
The police officers are adamant that Niles only spent about 15 minutes at the Brickdam Police Station.
During this time, they tried unsuccessfully to question the injured prisoner about the ammunition.
Instead, Niles kept asking for water and the ranks gave him water in a bottle.
A senior police officer then ordered the ranks to take Niles to the Georgetown Public Hospital where the injured prisoner was placed under guard.
Niles’s relatives were not allowed to visit him.
However, the inmate’s reputed wife was allowed to speak briefly with him on one occasion.
Yesterday, Acting Police Commissioner Henry Greene stated that the file on the matter has not been complete.
“I don’t know if you’re talking about torture; I’m talking about the death of a gentleman. We’re working on that right now,” Greene told the media.
With regards to calls for another independent inquiry, this time into the prisoner’s death, Greene indicated that he was not too worried.
“People have a right to their own calls to their own views but we the police will do what we have to do until we’re told not to do,” the Acting Police Commissioner explained.
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