LINDEN Mayor Carwyn Holland is calling on the Guyana Police Force to reopen the investigation into the shooting to death of the three Lindeners during the 2012 unrest in that mining community over the electricity tariffs.Dead re: Shemroy Bouyea, Ron Somerset and Allan Lewis who were allegedly gunned down by armed ranks on July 18, 2012.

The shooting occurred at the Wismar Mackenzie Bridge during a standoff with protestors and ranks from the joint services. Lindeners were at the time protesting the decision made by the former administration to increase the electricity tariff from $5 per kilowatt to $65.

Holland on Monday made a national call for the investigation into the shooting to be reopened, stressing that the lives of Lindeners matter. “I believe that there needs to be a proper and a better investigation, I believe that the truth must be told as to why those Lindeners were shot and who shot those Lindeners and there must be an answer, those lives must not go down without a proper investigation,” Holland affirmed.

He said the he knows the investigation was closed but “there must be a reopening.”

Four years after that fateful day, the police have not categorically ascertained the shooters responsible for the death of the three men. Former Deputy Police Commissioner Seelall Persaud stated that shotguns were used in the shooting and four shotgun cartridges were the only ammunition that was unaccounted for by police ranks after July 18.

Two of the slain men were shot in the chest while one was shot in the back. It is believed that the shooters were standing about 15 feet away from the protesters when they opened fire.

A five-member Commission of Inquiry into the shooting found the Guyana Police Force culpable in the deaths of three protestors but it failed to unearth direct evidence that any individual ranks shot the protestors. No evidence was given that anyone other than the police ranks were in possession of firearms when protestors and persons in the vicinity were shot. Several civilians, including those who were wounded, had testified to seeing police ranks shooting into the crowd that had gathered near the Mackenzie/Wismar Bridge.

A few weeks ago Lindeners commemorated the lives of the martyrs in the form of a wreath laying service and a candle light vigil. The families testified that the absence of their loved once still affects them daily and though 4 years have passed the pain remains the same. It is for this reason and more that they demand justice must be served.

Attorney at Law Nigel Hughes in his address contended that the state should compensate for the right to life as the Commission of Inquiry only gave economic compensation. “The state must compensate the citizens anytime it unjustly takes the life of its citizens….I urge those in charge of the state tonight to consider all of the injustices that were put upon the people of Guyana and begin to take small steps towards rectifying all the injustices of the past,” argued Mr. Hughes.
The candle light vigil was held at the spot where the three Lindeners were shot while the wreaths were laid on their graves at the Bamia Cemetery.