Teen shot in mouth…Three weeks later Home Affairs Minister still awaiting briefing

May 20, 2014 News

It’s been almost one month since teenager Alex Griffith was shot in his mouth by a police Cadet Officer but Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee says he is not too familiar with the case.

Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee

The Minister was specifically asked for his comment on the length of time the investigation into the shooting incident involving the teenager and the cadet officer is being conducted.
“I have to confess that I’m not so much up to date on that because I was out for a while and I’m still to get a briefing from Mr. Persaud,” Rohee told this newspaper following the weekly People’s Progressive Party press conference at Freedom House yesterday.
Fifteen-year-old Alex Griffith, of East La Penitence, was hauled from his mother’s house shortly before midnight on April 30, last, by a party of policemen, headed by Cadet Officer Franz Paul. Paul had accused him of being a witness to a robbery committed on a relative of the officer.
Investigators were told that the Cadet Officer placed a gun into the teenager’s mouth and in what was described as a game of Russian roulette, pulled the trigger twice, sending a bullet through the back of Griffith’s right ear.
Fortunately, the bullet narrowly missed his brain and he lives to tell his tale and to identify the officer who almost killed him.
Since then there has been public outrage over the incident with many protests in several parts of the city.
But despite this, the Home Affairs Minister is claiming that he is still awaiting a briefing from the Commissioner of Police on the incident.
“It is baffling and surprising that the Minister could say that he is not up to date. The teenager, his mother and several other persons were in front of the Minister’s office protesting. His security came out and took notes of what was written on placards. We were also in front of State House protesting,” said Social Activist Mark Benschop, who has been actively assisting the teenager and his relatives to get justice.
“For the Minister to say that he is not up to date on the issue is an indictment of the highest order on him as the political oversight for law enforcement in this country. Is the Minister saying that he has to meet one on one with the commissioner to know what transpired?” another observer noted.
The observer who was also a part of the protest actions calling for justice for Alex Griffith noted that in this day and age of technology, the Minister ought to have familiarized himself with the issue which occurred three weeks ago and which has been the subject of widespread media coverage.
“This shows that Minister Rohee is not concerned about justice. But now that he will seek the information that he needs from the Commissioner of Police, let’s see how swift justice will be,” Benschop stated.

Protestors outside the Ministry of Home Affairs last week.

The file on the matter is with the Chairman of the Police Complaints Authority, Justice Cecil Kennard, who has assured that he will complete his review by Friday before handing it over to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

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