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Lindo Creek massacre COI to be sworn in today
-Harmon says ‘whistleblower’ legislation may be used to protect some witnesses
A Commission of Inquiry is to be sworn in today to investigate the slaughter of eight gold miners at Lindo Creek ten years ago.
The swearing in will take place at the Ministry of the Presidency.
Questioned on whether protection will be offered to witnesses, Minister of State Joseph Harmon told Kaieteur News that the members of the Commission will make that decision.
He suggested that the recently passed Protected Disclosures Bill 2017, sometimes referred to as the ‘Whistleblowers Bill’, “could come in useful,” during the ‘crime wave’ COI.
“There are lots of people who have information…”
The Bill seeks to protect persons making disclosures from detrimental action, while the Witness Protection Bill seeks to establish a programme for the protection of certain witnesses and others.
The Lindo Creek COI is to be the first of several that Government has ordered into the 2002 to 2009 crime wave killings and disappearances.
On June 21, 2008, the charred bones Nigel Torres, Bunny Harry, Clifton Wong, Dax Arokium, his uncle Cedric, Compton Speirs, Horace Drakes and Lancelot Lee were discovered in their camp at Lindo Creek, Berbice River.
Commissioner of Police, Henry Greene had said that the killings were the work of the notorious Rondell ‘Fineman’ Rawlins and his gang.
Police had said that evidence of an eyewitness, who was also a member of gang, supported this.
That ‘eyewitness’ was a teen who was found in a trail days after the ‘Fineman’ gang was allegedly uprooted from its hideout at Christmas Falls, Upper Berbice River.
The youth has remained in protective custody since then.
All the other alleged gang members on the massacre are now dead.
But Leonard Arokium, who owned the camp, has repeatedly insisted that he believes that individuals other than Rawlins and his gang massacred his men.
He accused the members of the joint services who had been in the area of carrying out the attack. The joint services vehemently denied this.
The police also said that ballistics tests on spent shells recovered at the scene matched one of the weapons that was recovered from Cecil Ramcharran called ‘Uncle Willie’ and Robin Chung called ‘Chung Boy’ who were slain at Goat Farm during a confrontation with ranks.
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GREAT BRING IT ON!!