As they have done for 17 years, the family of Satyadeow `Sash’ Sawh is continuing to press the authorities to solve the 2006 murder of the then Agriculture Minister, two of his siblings and a guard.
In a letter in the April 21st edition of Stabroek News, his son, Roger Sawh, on behalf of his family said: “Indefatigably, the family of the late Satyadeow Sawh marks seventeen years since the brutal demise of our beloved father and relatives. Incredibly, so much time has precipitated so little action for an event that was so very devastating to so many people. Ineffectually, theories (ranging from the silly to the sinister) have been proffered; each, however, lacks meaningful evidence. Insistently, our family agitates for more to be done to get to the bottom of what happened. We unapologetically just want to know `Why?’ Invariably, the light banishes the darkness. Inevitably, the truth must emerge. In loving memory, we keep the faith”.
Sawh, a then high-ranking member of the PPP and former Ambassador to Venezuela was gunned down in his home on April 22, 2006. Also killed in the attack by a heavily armed gang were Sawh’s sister Phulmattie Persaud, his brother
Rajpat Sawh and security guard Curtis Robertson. The killings occurred under the presidency of Bharrat Jagdeo after a prison break in 2002 had led to years of mayhem which saw the police force being overwhelmed and private killing squads functioning.
Three other persons were injured: Omprakash Sawh, 53, another brother of the Minister, and security guards Albert Mangra and Aga Khan.
The Minister’s wife, Sattie, and his brother, Omprakash, were in the kitchen when they saw a masked gunman looking at them through a window. Sattie had said that she alerted the Minister, who was in his hammock on the veranda, but before he could escape to safety, he was riddled with shots. He collapsed just inside his front door.
Sawh’s brother, Omprakash, hid his sister Phulmattie underneath a bed, but the gunmen found her and after dragging her out shot her in the face.
The gunmen then turned their weapons on the Minister again and at the same time placed Omprakash on top of another brother, Rajpat, to kill them both. Omprakash said he begged the men for his sister’s life and gave them $23,000, a digital camera and a watch. He said he and his brother were praying for their lives, but before the gunmen left they fired another shot at them, killing Rajpat.
Jermaine ‘Skinny’ Charles, who was killed along with Rondell ‘Fineman’ Rawlins, during a shoot-out with the joint services and David Leander, called ‘Biscuit,’ who died, had been charged with the murders.
Former Crime Chief Seelall Persaud had told Stabroek News that the case was closed and would only be reopened when new information surfaced. He had said that the closing of the case signalled a suspension of investigations until new information came to hand. He did not deny that there may have been more persons engaged in the murders but pointed out that investigations are done based on the availability of information.
Shortly before taking up office, the A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change coalition had promised that if elected to govern it would hold independent inquiries into the killings of Sawh and activist Courtney Crum Ewing.
After assuming office, President David Granger had announced that there would be a Commission of Inquiry into the assassination of Sawh, his siblings and his security guard but he didn’t say when.
In December 2019, Granger cited the lack of evidence and witnesses as the reasons why the inquiries have not been held into the killing of persons following the 2002 Camp Street Prison jailbreak and the ensuing crime wave.
