The PNCR is calling for a thorough investigation into the killing of 22-year-old Ronald Anthony Parris, of Old England, Upper Demerara, allegedly by “elements” of the Guyana Police Force on December 13, 2007.
Strongly condemning the killing of Parris at the party’s weekly press conference held at Congress Place yesterday, it said there must be a thorough investigation and if members of the force are guilty of murder, they must be charged and placed before a court of law.
According to a party press release, an investigation was imperative and it called on the government to order an inquest into the killing of Parris with the least delay because there were two versions of the circumstances surrounding his death.
The PNCR said that based on information available to the party and on relatives’ accounts, a group of policemen opened fire on a group of young men who were loading a boat with manure. Parris was shot in the back, even as he tried to escape the assault.
The police have said that during a search of a house in Old England, they found a shotgun, a claim that residents regard as a concoction.
The PNCR said the elements of the police force involved in the killing of Parris also raised suspicions since one of Parris’s cousins who recorded a part of the incident on video, was arrested and detained at the Wismar Police Station. Her camera was also confiscated.
“If the incident occurred as the police alleged, then there would have been no need to arrest the young woman and confiscate her camera,” the PNCR said.
The party said Guyana appears to be returning to the recent past when the police held themselves to be judge, jury and executioner.
Responding to a question in relation to similar incidents such as the killing of Donna Herod of Buxton in September during a joint services operation and the torture of two Buxtonians while in the custody of the police, PNCR Leader Robert Corbin said the government was afraid of any serious investigations. They were instances of the police running away from public scrutiny, he said.
