Family rejects LNP’s account

Family of motorcyclist Beyan Lamin shut dead Sunday night 29 April in the Parker Paint Community, Paynesville City by police depot commander Roosevelt Deman vehemently rejects account provided by Police Inspector General Patrick Sudue in a press conference after preliminary investigation.

The family rejection also comes in the wake of disturbing photographs which depicts that officer Deman nearly killed another motorcyclist in his attempt to arrest the said rider.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the New Dawn at her Parker Paint, Soul Clinic residence Tuesday, the deceased sister Madam Kebbeh Lamin, who claims her brother was killed in the presence of two family members, terms account from the Liberia National Police on the incident as an apparent attempt to cover up misdeed of Officer Roosevelt.

She explains that contrary to claims by the police that there was scuffle between the late Lamin and Officer Deman, no such fight occurred, adding that while she and the late Lamin’s oldest brother Zubah Lamin were pleading with Deman to take the deceased’s motorbike to the station and until Monday morning at which time they would have produced the living body of the victim, he (Officer Deman) refused and allegedly shot and killed Lamin before their very eyes.

She narrates that after killing the victim, Officer Deman hurriedly fled the scene and in less than 25 minutes, a police vehicle arrived at the house and collected Lamin’s corpse without anyone telling them where they were taking the remains.

According to Kebbeh, the family then decided to follow the police to know where they were taking Lamin’s remains when they got information that their brother’s corpse was deposited at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Sinkor, Monrovia.

She further explains that Officer Roosevelt Deman did not shoot his own pound in the Parker Paint area but rather behind the police depot, which raises serious concern among residents who were not sleeping, adding that the bullet allegedly discharged by Deman, who hails from Nimba County, is in the possession of the LNP.

She wonders how did the police know that the victim died as a result of a scuffle between the two men when the deceased’s relatives were never invited for statement or performed an autopsy to establish the cause of death.

Madam Kebbeh notes that no amount of threat or intimidation from the police would deter the Lamin Family from seeking justice, calling on the United States Embassy accredited near Monrovia and all human rights and civic groups to speak out on the matter to ensure that the government fast track the prosecution of Officer Deman.

The victim’s sister discloses that since the incident, they have been in serious fear for their lives, taking into consideration the assertion made by the police that their brother died during scuffle over Officer Deman’s weapon, something, according to her, is completely far from the reality.

When this paper visited the police depot Tuesday 1 May in Paynesville City, where Officer Roosevelt Deman is assigned, for clarification this reporter was asked out of the depot by some policemen, who threatened to arrest him if he refused to vacate the premises of the police depot.

Meanwhile, according to Police IG Sudue, Officer Roosevelt, who reportedly sustained injury on hand, is receiving medication at the JFK Hospital in Sinkor under police custody.

By Emmanuel Mondaye-Editing by Jonathan Browne