Departmental charges a slap on wrist

Dec 14, 2009 News

Tortured teen…

…up to nation to illustrate dissatisfaction with paltry reprimand – Ramjattan
Attorney at law, Khemraj Ramjattan, who is representing the now 15 year-old boy that was beaten and burnt on his genitals and midriff with methylated spirits at the Leonora Police Station, says that the reprimand meted out to the ranks who were departmentally charged is an insult to the lad.
According to Ramjattan, what was meted out to the then Commander, Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent, Sergeant, and three Constables was just a slap on the wrist in the face of what was an obvious dereliction of duty.
Ramjattan recalled that when the AK 47s went missing, Colonel Ross was court-martialed for dereliction of duty.

Attorney at law Khemraj Ramjattan

He stated that in the face of this heinous crime that was perpetrated on the lad, the fact that there was an apparent cover-up involving senior ranks, was appalling.
He did note also that the fact that the then Divisional Commander, Paulette Morrison, was only transferred for her role suggests that she had informed her superiors and as such they could not justifiably penalise her further.
“What happened was that a velvet glove was used.”
He said that the fact that the ranks were seemingly let off the hook will not bode well in the future, given that this could allow for similar such situations to happen.
Ramjattan said that in the face of the action taken, there is little other recourse, save and except for the nation to come out and illustrate their dissatisfaction with such a paltry penalty that was administered to ranks that were clearly complicit in what had transpired.
The report that was recently released by the Ministry of Home Affairs, stated that the then Divisional Commander, AC Morrison, knew that the lad had been burnt with methylated spirits but she claimed that she did not know the severity of the injuries.
According to the report, she subsequently (later in day) instructed Superintendent Kissoon that the tortured teen be given medical attention by the Police Surgeon.
It was pointed out that while Ms Morrison was not diligent as she should have been, the ranks involved were concealing material information from her in order to cover up their dastardly acts.
Retired Assistant Commissioner, Heeralall Mackhanlall, who investigated the matter, stated inter alia: “this is an ugly and unfortunate incident as senior ranks did not take appropriate action to safeguard the well being of the prisoners. I am of the view that this Incident occurred because of lack of supervision of the ranks in the Division. If the ranks involved were properly supervised and they had understood their role as Law Enforcement Officers, and acted professionally, this incident would have been prevented, hence the Force would not have faced the embarrassment it faces due to this incident.”
Ramjattan is of the opinion that with the exception of the ranks who have been charged criminally, the other complicit officers should have been given a harsher penalty.