Blair had not been wanted by police -wife reiterates
Stabroek News
August 1, 2002
Amidst tight security, reputed wife of the late Shaka Blair, Simi Ragnauth, told a coroner's inquest that her husband had not been wanted by the police and he had even gone to court a week earlier without law enforcers showing an interest in him.
Ragnauth was at the time being cross-examined by attorney-at-law Basil Williams at the Sparendaam Magistrate's Court where an inquest into the Buxtonian's death is currently being held.
Williams and Raphael Trotman are the two lawyers representing Ragnauth and her siblings, while senior counsel Bernard De Santos is representing the interest of the police.
The inquest was originally scheduled to be held at the Vigilance Magistrate's court which is next door to Buxton but the police had requested its transfer to Sparendaam for security reasons.
Ever since it started, those attending the court sessions are made to go through an intense screening of their person by a police officer. On Monday and Tuesday several persons, including a reporter from this newspaper, residents of Buxton and relatives of Blair were put through this procedure.
A police officer who spoke to this newspaper said that because of the nature of the inquest and with all that had transpired before and after Blair's death, they were cautioned to be very vigilant. Along with the police guard at the gate there is also a vanload of ranks from the Target Special Squad (TSS) who would normally observe proceedings from their vehicle which is usually parked in front of the Sparendaam Police Station.
In a very short session yesterday owing to Williams' request for an early adjournment to attend a funeral, Ragnauth maintained that as far as she was aware her late husband was never issued with a summons nor did his name appear on a police wanted bulletin.
She recounted to Williams that her door was prised open by the police who used a piece of wood in the process and upon their entrance she felt scared. Ragnauth told the coroner that she knew the ranks were members of the TSS, known as the "Black Clothes". She said that when she saw them fear overcame her since she had seen their acts on television.
The woman testified too that she did not consider the time the police visited her home as being appropriate. According to her, they did not show her any search warrant and even upon entering the house and seeing her the police did not carry out a search in her presence. She said also there was no evidence of a search after the police had left the house.
She reminded the coroner that around seven days before her husband was killed, he had attended court at Vigilance where there is a police station in the same compound. Ragnauth said that the matter in court involved him and one of his brothers. She insisted that he left the court that day without any hint that he was wanted. "Nobody told him anything about he is wanted," the witness said. She said that when the police entered her home they pulled her and her child to a back room. She also said that it was about one to two minutes from the time she was pulled to that room to when the policemen left her home.
The inquest will continue next Tuesday at which time Ragnauth will be further examined by Williams and then Police Constable Keswin Benjamin will retake the witness stand to be cross-examined. Blair's killing by ranks of the TSS on April 6 in his home at Buxton sparked heated controversy.