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Arrested AWOL soldiers cry foul

Aug 23, 2012 News

Some former soldiers who are in custody at Army Headquarters, Camp Ayanganna, are threatening “drastic action” to press their demands for the halt to what they called the inhumane treatment meted out to them.
The former soldiers, eight in total, who spoke to this newspaper via telephone, were taken into custody for being absent without leave (AWOL).
They claimed that they are being held in a “stinking cell” despite not being given a hearing.
Some of the men have reportedly been in custody for more than a month while others were arrested during the recent Joint Services operation in the bauxite mining town of Linden.
At least two of them claimed that they had left the army over 10 years ago.
“We are so frustrated, this place stink, no ventilation. We living like dogs,” one of the former soldiers told this newspaper.
Kaieteur News understands that a soldier who is AWOL, is supposed to be given a hearing as early as possible, when arrested. If found guilty, a soldier can face up to 42 days in army prison.
One of the former ranks, who left the army unlawfully eight years ago, said that he had gone to Camp Ayanganna, seeking clearance so that he could leave the country. However, he was promptly arrested.
Another soldier who claimed to be a minibus operator, with significant expenses, said that he was pointed out as an AWOL soldier in Linden.
They both told this newspaper that despite appeals for a speedy hearing, GDF authorities have been turning a deaf ear.
“No trial and I deh in hey fuh more than a month,” one said.
He claimed that he had complained of feeling unwell only to incur the wrath of the authorities who deprived him of food.
The men said that their complaints are also met with threats to send them to the main civilian prison on Camp Street.
“We are not criminals,” one of the frustrated former soldiers told Kaieteur News.
The men said that they had tried to obtain honourable discharges from the army, but this process was prolonged to such an extent that they had no other alternative but to leave.

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