Azad ‘AK 47’ Bacchus’s inquest put back to October

Sep 04, 2013 News

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An inquest which should have started by Coroner Magistrate Roby Benn on August 26, last, at the Springlands Magistrate’s Court has been pushed back to October 18 because the Coroner is on leave. The inquest is to determine when, how, where and in what manner or whether anyone is responsible for the death of the five people who died during the BASS shooting incident in 2001.
The persons who died were Janet Bess, Valarie Alves, Stephen Angel, Mahendra Samsundar and Saif Ghani.
Saif Ghani,18, and Steven Angel ,42, were both hit by live rounds fired at protestors.  Janet Best, who was seven months pregnant at the time, was exercising on the foreshore behind the BASS headquarters when he was shot (and eventually died in a subsequent ambulance accident en route to the New Amsterdam Hospital).
Alves was the nurse accompanying the injured in the ambulance.  Both Angel and Ghani were alleged to be observing the protest from a distance when they were shot.
The persons died on August 17, 2001 at Skeldon, Corriverton outside and surrounding the BASS office. Some three dozen persons are down to give evidence, including some 11 BASS officers. Hundreds of persons were protesting the alleged killings of Azad ‘AK 47’ Bacchus, 41, his son Shazad Bacchus, 18, of Kim Jong IL Street, Race Course, Corriverton and his nephew Fadil Ally, 15, of Crabwood Creek, Skeldon at the hands of BASS members.
The men were allegedly shot dead by members of the Berbice Anti-Smuggling Squad (BASS) at Corriverton following a dramatic sequence of events, including a raid on the Skeldon hospital.
A police press release at the time stated that the three men were shot dead at Scotsburg, Upper Corentyne, Berbice during an armed confrontation with BASS.
The incident at the time stemmed from the Shazad Bacchus’s arrest by ranks of BASS. Bacchus had 26 bales of plastic bags. BASS ranks were on patrol at 23:30hrs. During the arrest, Shazad Bacchus reportedly attempted to escape and sustained injuries.
Shazad Bacchus was reportedly taken to the Skeldon Hospital with an injury to his forehead and was being guarded by a senior member of BASS. The BASS operative subsequently received a radio message that Azad Bacchus was on his way there. The building was secured but the nephew Fadil Ally reportedly gained access by climbing through a window and opened the main door to allow Azad Bacchus to enter. Shazad Bacchus was then taken from the hospital.
About 02:00 hrs, shots were fired. Azad Bacchus, though apparently injured made his escape in his minibus BEE 443.
Bacchus had alerted relatives that he was shot. He, his son and nephew were subsequently cornered by members of BASS around 02:30 hrs. Bacchus, a father of nine was apparently shot in the abdomen.
The men were shot while in the minibus which was subsequently lodged at the Springlands Police Station.
A medical source had revealed that the nephew was shot at close range with a bullet to the forehead, while Shazad’s face was battered.
The release had stated that the men had engaged law enforcement in gunfire and when the exchange of gunfire ceased a search of the minibus revealed the three men shot. They were pronounced dead at the Skeldon Hospital.  It also revealed that A .32 pistol, seven live rounds of 9 mm Luger ammunition, four 7.62 live rounds, eight .67 SMC rounds, one .22 pistol with five live rounds and a quantity of spent shells were discovered in the bus at the time.
A resident of the area had reported that Bacchus and his relatives were taken to the Scottsburg foreshore, where they received the fatal shots.
Azad Bacchus was previously found guilty in March 2000 of five charges. He was sentenced to ten years in prison on the charge of wounding with intent and seven years each on charges of discharging a loaded firearm, and possession of ammunition and explosives without the relevant licences. The sentences were ordered to run concurrently.
The charges against the man had stated that he had two hand grenades, an AK47 rifle and a self-loading rifle in an arsenal unearthed by the police after a shooting exchange with him on November 17, 1992.
Bacchus through his lawyer had filed an appeal of the conviction on March 16, 2001.  The appeal was heard at the conviction was set aside and a retrial was ordered.
On June 21, 2001, Bacchus had moved to the High Court and applied for bail, which was granted in the sum of $300,000, with the condition that he report to the Springlands Police Station every Saturday morning.
He had previously skipped a $100,000 bail on December 31, 1992 which was granted for an attempted murder of a policeman and possession of arms and ammunition charges during a gun battle with law enforcement.
He was captured in April 1998 by the Surinamese police during a police dragnet in the capital Paramaribo.
Attorney at law Ramesh Rajkumar is representing GRA/BASS in the matter.

 

 

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