TWENTY-SIX-YEAR-OLD Shaka Chase of  169 East Ruimveldt, Georgetown, yesterday  appeared before Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry charged with the murder of Police Corporal, Romain Cleto.

Chase was remanded to prison until Thursday.
Particulars of the offence said that on April 27 near Avenue of the Republic and Regent Street, Georgetown, around 6:45 PM, Chase murdered Romain Cleto, a police officer acting in the execution of his duty.
The accused was represented by three attorneys – Mr. Nigel Hughes, Mr. James Bond and Mr. Mark Waldron.
According to Mr. Hughes, on the night of the incident, the accused was told that the police were using his name on the radio in relation to the murder of officer Cleto. His client was at a Bar-B-Que the entire day, and later visited the police station, where he was held in custody for three days. He was released and rearrested on Thursday last.
The defence lawyer said that his client was tortured and forced to sign a statement, when he was not aware of the content. He added that there are several persons who can testify to the whereabouts of the accused at the time of the incident.
Those persons were instructed to give alibi statements and it is understood that more than eight of them went to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headquarters at Eve Leary to do so. However, the police declined to take the statements.
Hughes said that he had also e-mailed the statements to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), and it was confirmed that these had been received.
Meanwhile, it was reported that Natasha Blackman was forced to give statements by the police and to admit that she had seen Shaka Chase in a white car. Two other witnesses for the defence are a traffic officer and a shopkeeper.
According to police prosecutor Ramsahoye Rambajue, there are a total of 17 witnesses but he would not be able to say how many of them are actually eyewitnesses.
Attorney Mr. James Bond told the court that the police conduct in relation to Chase was indeed terrible as he had been shocked while being tortured for hours.
He then named three officers who were responsible for torturing the accused as Reid, Narine and Melville, adding that they caused him to defecate on himself no less than five times. He then had no other alternative but to sign the statements. Bond said that he visited the police station and took new trousers for the accused since he had to dispose of the one which he had messed up earlier. Bond added that the police have no respect for Chase.

PACKED COURTROOM
Following the hearing in a packed-to-capacity courtroom yesterday morning, family members, friends and supporters of the murder accused cried aloud as the man was brought out of the courthouse and taken into the court lockups.
Some persons breached police barricades and jostled police officers, both armed and unarmed, as they tried to give kisses and hugs to the accused who was being sent to the Camp Street prison until Thursday.
His sister who spoke with the media outside the courthouse said that they are not buying the story that their relative had killed a member of the Guyana Police Force while on duty.
On the fatal night when Corporal Cleto was shot dead, two other police ranks were injured and had to seek medical attention for injuries sustained from gunshots and shattered glass. That same night the police vowed that no stone would be left unturned in their efforts to bring the cop killer to justice.