TRNUC resumes for last series of hearings for 2020 |10 December 2020

The Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission (TRNUC) yesterday morning resumed for its last series of hearings for 2020 after a week break.

Following closed sessions in the morning, nursing lecturer at the National Institute of Health and Social Studies (NIHSS), Merna Figaro, was the first witness in open session in the afternoon in CASE 0333 - Annette Henriette/Harinna Labrosse, concerning the death of brother Robin Henriette, who was shot by the police at Port Glaud on January 12, 2005 and died on the way to the Victoria Hospital.

The commission had requested Ms Figaro to appear before it as it had received information that she was present at the scene of the shooting and also in the ambulance that carried Robin to the Port Glaud Health Centre and later down to the casualty unit in Victoria.

In rolling out the information she had, Ms Figaro firstly stated that at the time she was working as a nurse at the Port Glaud Health Centre that morning when a call came in seeking assistance for someone involved in a shooting incident in upper Port Glaud. She claimed that after seeking the assistance of an ambulance from Victoria Hospital, which arrived at the clinic 20-30 minutes later, she and the ambulance team, comprising the driver and a porter, went on site and firstly met an armed soldier who indicated the location of the casualty. She said it had taken the ambulance around five minutes to reach the scene but they were not able to reach Robin to give him assistance as the precipice where he laid was very difficult to access.

Ms Figaro said she told the police officers and soldiers present of the difficulties, especially for her, to reach Robin and asked them to try and bring him up so that she could provide him with medical assistance. She added that Robin, who was wrapped in some bandage and was conscious but in pain, was fifteen minutes later brought up on a stretcher by the army and police officers, including with the help of the ambulance driver and porter. She stated that as the shot wounds on his two legs and stomach were already bandaged, she didn’t get to see them.

She said that Robin, only in his underwear, was quickly taken to the Port Glaud Health Centre for further care to settle his wounds before she accompanied him, along with a doctor, down to the Victoria Hospital. She stated though that Robin fell unconscious along the way and all communication with him stopped.

With regard to claims by law officers that it was the health personnel who arrived late at the scene, Ms Figaro explained she had no idea how long they had been calling for assistance since the time Robin was shot but only knows that the health centre opened only at 8am at that time and as they were at the centre before 8am, the only call for assistance in relation to the shooting came in at around 7.50am.

Ms Figaro claimed that while still at the Port Glaud Health Centre, she saw a small plastic bag protruding from the side of Robin’s underwear which a lady police officer later told her had contained 300 Euros and a piece of drug. She said it was only after six months that she and some other people were called in to make their statements in relation to the shooting incident.

CASE 0220 - Marie Lespoir

Clifford Freminot was also in open session as a witness in relation to CASE 0220 -Marie Lespoir concerning the brutal killing of her son Marc Lespoir, at the Grand Police Prison on March 6, 1995.

Mr Freminot explained that by the way he witnessed the shooting, Joachim Bastienne, the soldier who shot Marc, had the intention of doing so. He added that the shooting prompted him to escape from the prison the same day, along with two other prisoners for three months, as it had seemed to him that some other prisoners, including himself, were going to be killed in the same way.

He claimed that he came to witness the shooting while being released from his cell to empty the tin gallon he used to urinate in. He said he heard an exchange of swear words between Bastienne and Lespoir reaching to a point where Lespoir opened a gate that was unlocked, tried to climb the watch tower to confront Bastienne closer. He claimed it was at that instant that Bastienne shot Lespoir. He added that Lespoir never touched the barrel of the gun Bastienne was holding and that he was also empty handed when he was shot.

Mr Freminot claimed that Lespoir was shot in relation to a concubine issue with Bastienne. He said their argument though had something to do with Lespoir’s appointment with the doctor. He said that Lespoir in pain even got the chance to tell Bastienne that he had killed him because of the concubine.

The chairperson of the commission, Gabriel Mclntyre, said that Bastienne had claimed in his testimony that he had no intention of killing Lespoir and that it was a pure accident as he was unaware that his gun was not on safety catch to which Mr Freminot said was a complete lie. He noted that if Bastienne had no intention of killing Lespoir, he should have shot him in the legs. He stated that prisoners at Grand Police at that time were treated like slaves.

Patrick Joubert