Sister plans petition for brother’s release

Sep 23, 2012 News

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…after man imprisoned for more than two decades

For more than 25 years, since 1987, Noel Thomas has been holding his breath with every passing day, awaiting the hour when his date with the hangman would materialize.
He had been sentenced to death in 1992 after being convicted of the murder Abdool Kaleem Yassin who was shot dead in his Riverstown, Essequibo home on March 19, 1987.

Yassin’s elder brother, Abdool Saleem Yassin, had hatched the murder plot to get his hands on his brother’s inheritance. Thomas was the hit-man.  Abdool Saleem Yassin died in prison in 2002 from tuberculosis.
In 1997, the death warrant was read to Thomas. Then came a stay of execution. The United Nations Human Rights Committee was also petitioned and in 1998, that body recommended that the Guyana Government should release Thomas since there were many discrepancies in his trial.
However, in 1999 another death warrant was read and again lawyers petitioned the local court. Again he was granted a stay of execution.
Since then Thomas languished on Death Row, until a few months ago when his death sentence was commuted.
In June, the wait for the hangman came to an end when Chief Justice Ian Chang commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment.
The move paved the way for Thomas and three other death row inmates to think of freedom once again.
Now, a life sentence in prison terms amounts to 20 years behind bars and since Thomas has already spent more than that period as a guest of the state he could be freed.
One person who desperately wants him out is his sister, Carol, who currently resides in St. Maarten.
For years, Carol Thomas has been trying every avenue to secure her brother’s freedom. She finally contracted the services of attorney at law Nigel Hughes who successfully got the court to agree to a commutation of the death sentence.
This was after Thomas had gone on a hunger strike and had filed several appeals to the highest office of the land.
In December last year Thomas went on a hunger strike because he wanted the government and other relevant authorities to “let him know his fate” after being in prison for more than two decades, most of which was spent on death row.
Now that his sentence has been commuted to life imprisonment, Carol Thomas believes that her brother, who is now 53 years old, has more than paid the penalty for the crime for which he was convicted.
For her, a major concern is his failing health for which she said he is not being afforded the proper medical treatment.
“It is decades since my brother is in the Camp Street Prison. He has been suffering from hemorrhoids for the past 16 years and is still in need of surgery.”
Like many other inmates who have been complaining to this newspaper, Thomas has been a victim of the callousness of prison officials whenever it comes to receiving medical attention.

“Whenever it is time for him to go to the hospital for surgery, the prison officials always come for him when the due date is past,” Carol Thomas lamented.
For the past three months, Noel Thomas, a father of two, has been off death row and has been integrated with the general population of the prison, a process that should serve him well should he be returned to society.
However, his sister believes that the way his health concerns are being treated by the prison authorities, he may not be able to enjoy what is left of his life for too long.
She is fully aware that there are persons who believe that her brother should have paid the ultimate price for taking one’s life.
However, she, like many others including some relatives of murder victims, believe that persons such as Thomas deserve another chance, having already served a life sentence under the most inhumane conditions according to the United Nations Human Rights Committee.
Thomas was loud in praise for the work done by Nigel Hughes and the other attorneys who secured her brother’s removal from death row.
“When I heard that the judge commuted his sentence, I started celebrating. I really thought that I would see my brother outside of the Camp Street Prison for the first time in two decades. When I came, I visited him and he was crying. I could actually feel the emotion within him. If he comes out I will take care of him,” she said.
The woman, along with other relatives, plans to have a petition signed by several persons. They will send the petition to the Committee for the Prerogative of Mercy (Parole Board).
This newspaper was told that members of that committee recently visited the prison and advised that Thomas and the others will have to undergo anger management evaluation before a decision can be entertained to release them.
Thomas has been described as a model prisoner by senior prison officials who were contacted by this newspaper.
They all agree that his period among the general prison population would serve to determine how equipped he is to return to society after his stint behind bars.
“The young prisoners refer to him as ‘father’ or ‘dada’. That’s how much they respect him,” a prison warder told Kaieteur News.

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