Linden inquiry hears
Sixty-one-year-old seamstress Janice Burgan, who was shot during the Linden mayhem, testified on Wednesday that she was helping to place debris on the roadways when she was injured. She gave her testimony as the Commission of Inquiry into the July 18 Linden shooting continued at the Law Library of the High Court.
She said that, on July 18, around 09: 30h, she left her home to go to the Mackenzie/ Wismar Bridge to join the protest and, when she arrived there about 30 minutes later, there were many people waiting for others to join them to leave for Kara Kara.
She noted that she could not recall seeing any policeman at the bridge at that time, and that the crowd grew larger, but remained on the bridge and did not move to Kara Kara.
According to the woman, just after 12: 30h, about a dozen police officers arrived at the bridge in a vehicle with a loud speaker, through which she heard someone saying, “Residents of Linden please go home.” However, the crowd began approaching the officers and they retreated and left.
Burgan pointed out that, after the police left, no one went home, but instead, the people on the bridge carried on with whatever they were dong, including playing football with containers (plastic bottles and tins) and playing music. She told the commission that the atmosphere there was like a fun day. She said that, about 16: 00h, she had assisted in putting a piece of old iron and garbage on the road.
Gunshots
Burgan went on to say that the police returned to the bridge just after 17: 30h, and at that time, she was under a tarpaulin which was tied to the fence of the Linmine Secretariat Building, so she came out from under it and went on the road where she joined the crowd advancing towards the toll booth.
At this point, the police were about 15 feet away. She stated that she then saw a container fall in front of her and her eyes began burning, and ran in the direction of the steps leading to the gate of the Linmine building. She said that while running, she heard about two to three gunshots, then she saw a man (Ivan Lewis) fall in front of her. She said she stopped to look at him, and noticed that he was bleeding through his mouth and a male nurse came to help, so she continued to run.
The woman noted that she and a friend ran under the Linmine shed and she was feeling a burning, so when her friend told her that they should go home, she said she cannot because she was hit and she turned around and showed her friend her back where she was hit.
She said that her friend accompanied her to the hospital, where she was seen by a doctor, who told her that she was hit with a “live bullet”, hence, she was treated and did an x-ray after which she was admitted for four days.
Compensation
Burgan was questioned about her earnings before she was injured, and she stated that she used to earn about Gy$ 4000 per day, but not every day, and noted that on average her monthly income ranges from Gy$ 20,000 to Gy$ 25,000. This information had to be available to the commission since they are tasked with determining the terms of reference, which includes how persons were injured and if compensation should be awarded.
Under cross-examination by Commissioner Dana Seetahal, the witness admitted that she had assisted the men to place the iron and garbage on the road to block it, so that no vehicles could come forward or go across the bridge.
Then Attorney Nigel Hughes asked Burgan when she first realised that she was shot and she responded that while she was running from the tear gas, she felt a burning and her left hand was heavy, but it was not until she was under the Linmine office that she discovered she was bleeding heavily.
Based on questions asked by the attorney, the woman said that she had experienced pain in her left side and from her back, while adding that she had to lie on her right side during the weeks she spent at the hospital.
During the attorney’s cross-examination, it was revealed that the woman had four x- rays done, however only three were accounted for, the first (and only one) showing the bullet inside of her cannot be located by the personnel at the hospital.
Attorney Peter Hugh in cross-examining the pensioner, asked why instead of going to Kara Kara from her home, which is about the same distance from the bridge, she went to the bridge to which she replied, that it was unfair for her to walk that short distance so she joined the protest with the intention of marching to Kara Kara.
The woman then admitted through suggestions by the attorney, that she did not see anyone discharging rounds in her direction while she was running; hence, she cannot say who shot her. In answering a question by the attorney about what caused her to put the old iron on the road, she responded by saying that “the man was struggling with the iron and I assisted him.”
Vindicated
Over the past few days, evidence given during the inquiry has revealed that the ammunition recovered from the July 18 shooting is different from the regular ones police issue. This new explosive evidence contradicts the presumption by the A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance For Change (AFC) that the police fired the fatal shots on the day in question, on the basis of which they have campaigned vigorously for the removal of the Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee.
In the past few days, both parties supported two days of terror under the guise of political protest action in Agricola, East Bank Demerara, during which thousands of innocent citizens and schoolchildren were robbed, beaten and stranded, and the police severely attacked despite showing considerable restraint.
