[www.inewsguyana.com] – The Walter Rodney Commission of Inquiry (COI) has announced that it will convene hearings from Monday, April 28 and will be continued on the 29, 30 and May 2.
The hearings (public) will be held in the Supreme Court Library Building, Victoria Law Courts, Avenue of the Republic & Charlotte Street, Georgetown.
The Commission comprises its Chairman Sir Richard Cheltenham, Jaqueline Samuels-Brown, Q.C. and Seenath Jairam, S.C and has clarified that the purpose of the hearings will be to receive testimony and evidence from interested parties to enable it to:
(i) Examine the facts and circumstances immediately prior, at the time of, and subsequent to, the death of Dr. Walter Rodney in order to determine, as far as possible, who or what was responsible for the explosion resulting in the death of Dr. Walter Rodney;
(ii) Inquire into the cause of the explosion in which Dr. Walter Rodney died, whether it was an act of terrorism, and if so, who were the perpetrators;
(iii) Examine the role, if any, which the late Gregory Smith, Sergeant of the Guyana Defence Force, played in the death of Dr. Walter Rodney and if so, to inquire into who may have counselled, procured, aided and or abetted him to do so, including facilitating his departure from Guyana after Dr. Walter Rodney’s death;
(iv) Examine and report on the actions and activities of the State, such as, the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana National Service, the Guyana People’s Militia and those who were in command and superintendence of these agencies, to determine whether they were tasked with the surveillance of and the carrying out of actions, and whether they did execute those tasks and carried out those actions against the Political Opposition, for the period 1st January, 1978 to 31st December, 1980;
(v) Examine, review and report on earlier investigations and inquiries done on and into the death of Dr. Walter Rodney;
In subsequent hearings the Commission says it will be accepting original and follow up statements from interested parties during the life of the Commission and will be setting subsequent hearing dates to facilitate the commission and attendance of witnesses.
All persons wishing to testify on these and subsequent hearing dates are asked to submit statements of their intended testimony in writing to the Commission. Persons who wish to testify but may need assistance in composing their witness statements will be assisted by the Commission Secretariat and are invited to contact the Secretariat at the address, telephone number or email as set out below:
WALTER RODNEY COMMISSION of INQUIRY
Top Floor, Supreme Court Library Building, Victoria Law Courts
Avenue of the Republic & Charlotte Street
Georgetown, Demerara
Tel: (592)227-7729; email [email protected]
