Walter Rodney COI...PPP tried to have Gregory Smith extradited

Walter Rodney COI…PPP tried to have Gregory Smith extradited

Nov 04, 2014 News

– former Attorney General

Testifying before the Commission of Inquiry into the death of Dr. Walter Rodney, yesterday, Justice Charles Rishi Ramson,

Justice Charles
Rishi Ramson

former Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs, told the commission that Dr Rodney was killed during a period of parliamentary dictatorship in Guyana.
Dr. Rodney, a scholar, social activist and founder of the Working People’s Alliance was killed in an explosion on June 13, 1980.
The former Attorney General recalled that he was subjected to violence at the hands of members of the security forces while attending meetings of the WPA. He said that several of the meetings were disrupted and the police weren’t helpful. Thugs would break up the meeting and steal the equipment, he added.
Ramson said that he attended the meeting to listen to Dr Rodney and Clive Thomas, who were both articulate speakers. He said that there was intense surveillance of the opposition parties by State security forces and as such a special squad was founded under the leadership of Laurie Lewis. He noted that the WPA had started to mock Burnham, calling for “people power, no dictator”.
There were instances, he said, when the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) and the WPA held joint meetings. However, many of those meetings were disrupted by the ranks of the riot squad and members of other state-appointed vigilante groups.
He recalled a specific incident which took place on August 22, 1979 at Sheriff Street while he was attending a WPA meeting. The former AG said that he was just an ordinary Attorney-at-Law at the time. He recalled that he had been standing at a distance away from the WPA gathering when a van load of ranks of the riot squad attacked the supporters.
Ramson said that he was beaten about his abdominal when he refused to move at the order of the police officer – he maintained that he stood his ground because he knew his rights.
The Judge said that he later learnt that one of his colleagues, Moses Bhagwan, had suffered a broken arm as a result of a beating he sustained from the police. Justice Ramson said that he subsequently filed a lawsuit against the police.
On the night that Dr Rodney was killed, Ramson said that he was drinking at a party in Albert Street, Alberttown. He recalled that several persons had left the party and went home for security reasons. He noted that it was later discovered that Gregory Smith (the main suspect in the crime) had taken asylum in French Guiana.
Under cross examination by Attorney-at -Law Christopher Ram, Ramson disclosed that steps were taken by the PPP regime to have Smith extradited. He noted that the late President Dr Cheddi Jagan took steps to have Smith returned to Guyana.
He said that as Attorney General he was instructed to send a letter to the French Government reassuring them that if Smith was extradited to Guyana, he would not be executed or harmed in any way.
Justice Ramson said that he sent two letters to the French Government. The Commission of Inquiry is continuing.