Schoolmates of slain schoolboy Kelvin Anthony Fraser moved their protest to the city yesterday, demonstrating close to the Ministry of Home Affairs even as police arrested the driver of the truck that transported them and social activist, Mark Benschop.
Chanting loudly as police kept a close watch, the students carried placards and a board on which newspaper headlines of Fraser’s death were placed. They chanted that the police had murdered their 16-year-old classmate and said no justice, no school. “Close arrest is not enough”, chanted the students who arrived at Brickdam shortly after 3 pm yesterday. The policeman implicated in the shooting has been placed under close arrest. Some parents joined the children and a few passers-by also participated.
Fraser, a fourth form student at the Patentia Secondary School, was killed on Monday in what police said was a scuffle with a rank who was attempting to arrest him but relatives dispute this saying he was shot in the back. Dozens of students and parents called for justice for Kelvin during a protest at the School and the Wales Police Station on Wednesday.
Yesterday, the students brought their protest to the city and stood at the corners of Manget Place and Brickdam, close to the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Brickdam police station. They had arrived in an open-back canter truck and the police promptly arrested the driver. The police said that the driver was not authorized to transport that number of persons. However, this newspaper was told that the police on the West Bank Demerara had said it was alright for the driver to transport the students. Benschop said if they had known that the police were going to arrest the driver, the students would not have been transported in the truck.
The driver, Maniram, was eventually released on $10,000 bail. Activist David Hinds said by that act the police were trying to indirectly silence the children and prevent them from standing up for one of their colleagues. “His only offence is he brought children to stand up for their rights”, he said adding that the Commissioner of Police and the Minister of Home Affairs should speak on the matter. Buses were arranged to take the students back home.
As the driver was granted bail but not given permission to leave the Brickdam police station, Benschop went to enquire and was also arrested. The police have charged him with resisting arrest, disorderly behaviour and transporting persons in a vehicle that was not for that purpose. He was released late last evening on $100,000 bail. Muniram was charged with transporting persons in a vehicle that was not licenced to carry more than five passengers. The duo is expected to appear in court today.
Police had said that Fraser was fatally shot while ranks were responding to a report of a group of men “molesting” female students at the Patentia Secondary School. “Initial investigations indicate that the headmistress of the school reported to a member of the Community Policing Group who in turn informed the police at Wales Police Station concerning the molesting of the female students. The police responded promptly and on arrival at the school six youths were pointed out as the perpetrators. On seeing the police four of the youths ran away while two were arrested. The ranks pursued the four youths and caught up with Kelvin Fraser at Third Street, Patentia Housing Scheme. During efforts to arrest him a scuffle ensued between himself and a rank who was armed with a service shotgun which went off, hitting Fraser to his chest,” the police said in a statement on Monday. Fraser was taken to the West Demerara Regional Hospital (WDRH) where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
On Tuesday, relatives viewed the body at the mortuary. Afterwards, they said that there was a wound in the teen’s back and at the base of his neck. According to them, Fraser was shot in the back and the bullet exited through the throat.
Fraser, a fourth form student at the Patentia Secondary School had last attended classes last Friday. On Monday, he left home after receiving a call at about 12:30 pm from his girlfriend. He did not wear his uniform. His girlfriend, Karen Hermonstine told Stabroek News that they were in a classroom when they heard shouting. “Everybody just start screaming. He tell me he love me and he coming back. He just going and see is wha”, she recalled. She said the ranks were hitting the others who were in civilian clothes and Fraser, since he was not in uniform, decided to run away. She did not see him again.