Camp Street prisoners update Facebook page daily, access narcotics
March 19, 2016 | By KNews | Filed Under News, http://www.kaieteurnewsonline....ly-access-narcotics/
The last two testimonies from prisoners at the Commission of Inquiry (COI) that cell phones and narcotics do not exist within the prison were largely contradicted by prison inmate Owen Belfield yesterday. In addition, photographs taken from the Facebook page of prisoner Collis Collison also tell a different story.
Inmates at play
Belfield testified before the Commission into the deaths of 17 prisoners at the Camp Street jail, which is being held at the Ministry of Public Service boardroom. His testimony comes after inmates Michael Lewis and Desmond James testified otherwise.
On Wednesday, Lewis had been ‘firm in his testimony that he had never seen narcotics, improvised weapons, cell phones and other contraband within the cell block. In fact, Lewis’ sworn testimony was that the only cell phones he saw were those owned by prison officers.
Selwyn Pieters, legal representative of the Guyana Prison Service (GPS) and Guyana Police Force (GPF), was clearly incredulous when Lewis stated that in his two-year stay at Camp Street prison, he had never noticed prisoners with contraband items. However, Lewis had maintained his testimony.
On Thursday, inmate Desmond James had also been adamant that he never saw these things. He had denied that he was adopting an anti “kochore” stance, that is, covering for those who had these contraband.
However, when Belfield was asked by Pieters yesterday, he admitted that there were cell phones and that he once posed for pictures to be taken, with another inmate named Collis Collison.
Late inmate Rayon Paddy and another prisoner, with cell phones.
This photo was later posted to Facebook. Belfield, who admitted to having a facebook page, testified that he did not know the picture was posted. However, a visit to Collison’s Facebook page revealed postings of pictures of narcotics, women and even guns.
Several of Collison’s photo uploads showed the now dead Rayon Paddy and a group of prisoners in the prison, with a football. Others showed inmates, including Paddy, while using cell phones. One also showed Collison with a pile of marijuana bags laid out in front of him on a bed.
Collison, who was charged with murder and armed robberies back in 2011, had been on remand after he was captured last year and charged for trailing and robbing passengers from the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA).
Belfield testified that he did see the officer who closed the door on the instructions of someone who previous testimony identified as Deputy Director of Prisons, Gladwin Samuels. He identified the officer as one “Officer Elligan.”
However, Pieters suggested to Belfield that Samuels’ orders was because prisoners were rushing the door. This Belfield denied. He also denied suggestions from Pieters that the prisoners were rowdy and that after the door closed they threw urine on the officers outside and poked them.
Kaieteur News understands that video recordings were made of the fire, one by a prison officer and one by the surveillance cameras. Pieters suggested to the prisoner that when those videos were played, they would provide a different version of what really happened.