CASTRIES, St Lucia – The main opposition St Lucia Labour Party (SLP) Monday demanded the dismissal of National Security Minister Guy Mayers after three men, including two Venezuelan nationals, were freed from the island’s main prison by armed gunmen on Sunday.
The SLP said it was also calling on the Stephenson King administration to set up a Commissionof Inquiry to examine the circumstances that led to the incident at the Bordelais Correctional Facility.
Opposition Leader Dr Kenny Anthony said: “This unprecedented crime against such a key institution of state security cannot provide any comfort to citizens concerned about their safety and that of their friends and family.”
Law enforcement officials said that three or four heavily armed masked gunmen were able to penetrate three security fences in order to free the Venezuelans who were in jail on drugs related charges.
Media reports said that there had been an exchange of gunfire,but no one was reported injured.
In the statement, the police named the three escaped prisoners as 33-year-old Marino Luna, who was serving a four- year jail term; Egardo Boada Redriguez, 29, who was also jailed for four years on cocaine related charges and St Lucian Mohammed Duncan, who is serving a seven-year jail term on firearm related charges.
The police said that “an aggressive and wide-spread effort is underway across the island to return the escaped inmates to lawful custody”.The SLP said it was “demanding that an independent Commission of Enquiry be established urgently to get to the bottom of this frightening security breach”.
Anthony said that the SLP was convinced that only a Commission of Enquiry could provide answers to a number of unanswered questions relating to the incident. (CMC)
