– as police shield cop accused of killing Grant
By Javon Vickerie
Chaos erupted yesterday at the Georgetown Magistrates Court as the family and friends of Shaquille Grant expressed their disgust at the way Grant’s accused killer, Police Constable Terrence Wallace, was being treated.
Grant was shot dead in Agricola last month and Wallace along with two other policemen— Lance Corporal Warren Blue and Special Constable Jamal Lewis—have been charged with his murder.
Wallace made his second appearance before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry yesterday, but the prosecution said statements were not ready nor had the other two men been arrested.
The magistrate then asked attorney Basil Williams, who is looking after the interest of the deceased, if he wanted to apply for a fiat in the matter, but he responded in the negative.
Minutes later, police officers asked Grant’s mother Shonett Adams to leave the court room, after she was seen by orderlies trying to take a picture of Wallace while he was in the prisoner’s dock.
However, Magistrate Sewnarine-Beharry welcomed Adams back into the court to inquire if indeed she was trying to take the photograph as the police claimed.
Adams replied “yes” that indeed she was trying to, but apologized after the magistrate explained that the taking of pictures in the court was prohibited.
The prosecution further stated that they have not yet received advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on the file.
The magistrate then explained that she was made to understand that there was a total of 30 witnesses set to testify against the three men, therefore if no arrests were made by the next court date, she would proceed with the preliminary inquiry for Wallace and would hold separate PIs, when the others were arrested.
The case was then adjourned to October 29 at 10 am.
Meanwhile, outside the court, Grant’s mother, relatives and friends, held a picketing exercise, to express their dissatisfaction with the way Wallace was being treated. They chanted: “we want justice” and “how many more”, as they stood on the road dressed in white T-shirts which carried a picture of Grant captioned, “RIP gone but not forgotten”.
Earlier, as Wallace, whose face was covered with a white rag, was being escorted to the court, many hurled insults at him as he made his way in surrounded by police officers.
A young man who was in tears said, “deh got to move me, I want see justice for me fren”, refusing to remove from a barricade in front of the court. Other people, who were protesting, were forced to lift him over and calm him down.
After word came that Wallace had been smuggled through a back entrance of the court and would not pass the front entrance, where prisoners are normally escorted, the picketers became annoyed and their chanting rose a decibel with some using abusive words to police officers who stood behind.
A man then raised an alarm that Wallace was at the back of the police vehicle and it was about to leave. In fact, Wallace had not yet emerged from the court premises.
This resulted in some of the protesters lying down in front of the van and forcing it to come to a halt. “We want see he in shackles and handcuffs like wat dey does do wid de other jail men”, they said.
Grant’s mother placed pieces of wood which were nearby under the front and back tyres of the vehicle. She then lay face down in front of the vehicle. “I want justice for ma son,” she lamented. “Oh gawd, he ain’t do nothing wrong.”
As the vehicle made a second attempt to move, two other individuals, who were in tears, sat in front of it, demanding to see Wallace’s face.
After some two hours, other prisoners who were waiting were seen entering a police bus.
It took another three hours, by which time the protestors had moved, before officers finally backed the van into the court compound, placed Wallace in it and it then sped off through Main Street.
Grant’s mother explained that they had gone to the court some time around 8 am yesterday to see the man charged with killing her son. “I need he picture,” she said, referring to Wallace. “Even if dey lock me up one way or the other, It was a crime.”
She further stated, “I am saying this to the President of this country… he is unfit to be the President. He is suppose to please the Guyanese people, not the members of his cabinet, and so far all he is doing is pleasing the members of his cabinet…
“[This is] coming from Shaquille Grant mother, Shonett Adams, and I’m saying it without any fear or apology.”
Adams said she had handed out flyers and invited neighbouring communities to join the protest, which was to be moved to Agricola.
Social activist Mark Benschop said the police were playing games. He said according to reports, the other two men are in Suriname. “To add insult to injury, the police posted a wanted bulletin for the other two men, using photos which were taken over 10 -15 years ago. Let them issue current photos and issue bulletins in Suriname,” he said.
He said too that because Wallace was one of their own, he was given “top class” treatment, and that is what the relatives of Grant are objecting to.
