Georgetown: Former Commissioner of Police Winston Felix who is set for the National Assembly for the first time as a Parliamentarian says that the recent explanation by Commissioner of Police Henry Greene about the shooting by police ranks of civilian protestors is “utter nonsense.”
Felix in a recent interview said that Greene who has now stepped down to facilitate a rape investigation but was still at the helm of the force at the time of the shooting was trained “to use minimum force.”
Greene’s statement was in reaction to a post election street march by the youth arm of A Partnership for National Unity which ended in the Police Riot Squad gunning down at least a dozen of the protestors with rubber pellets. Among those shot at by the Police on what is now being termed ‘Bloody Tuesday’ are Former General in the Guyana Defence Force Brigadier (rtd) Edward Collins, Attorney-at-Law James Bond, Joan Bhaveghems among others.
The Former Commissioner of Police told this publication that when referring to the “use of minimum force” it is in reference to the degree of force necessary to deal “effectively with the instant situation.” He stressed that the protestors/demonstrators were all unarmed hence there was no need for the use of firearms on the part of the Police Force. “They ought to have been warned and every effort made to arrest them…that is Standard Procedure,” he asserted.
The Former Commissioner of Police drew reference to the Soviet Union/Russia where there was recent election and a similar reaction to the results declared, where persons took to the streets to demonstrate. “After an election just like ours, there were allegations of rigging just like ours, there were protests just like ours.” Felix said that the world witnessed on television the protests and how the police there dealt with the demonstrations. He posited that this is the kind of practice that is expected of the Guyana Police Force adding that in the present day situations, “they are too quick to shoot…I think they are too quick now to shoot without recognizing that they are not an Army in occupation.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.