Yaelvis Sarabia Santoyo. –
Attorneys Christon Williams and Siddiq Manzano are calling for a criminal investigation into the shooting death of Yaelvis Sarabia Santoyo, the one-year-old Venezuelan boy who was allegedly killed by Coast Guard officers while being carried by his mother who was trying to enter the country illegally.
Williams and Manzano also want a probe into whether there was witness or evidence tampering, and any attempts to pervert the course of justice after the 29 other people on the boat, witnesses to the event on February 5, were repatriated back to Venezuela shortly after.
In a letter to Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard, SC, on Friday, the attorneys said: “The deportation of the witnesses, mentioned above, by the servants and/or agents of the Ministry of National Security and the Chief Immigration Officer, alludes to misbehaviour in public office and may be evidence of direct and intentional interference with a criminal investigation.”
The letter said five days after Baby Yaelvis’ death, attorneys sent a letter to the Ministry of National Security, the Chief Immigration Officer and the TT Defence Force requesting that the remaining occupants on the vessel be issued minister’s permits which would allow them to remain in TT for a period of time.
The attorneys sent a letter to the Minister of National Security the day after, requesting information about the status of the migrants – whether they had been deported or not. While no response was received from the ministry, the letter said the attorneys were told that all the migrants – witnesses to Yaelvis’ death – had been deported.
The attorneys sent letters to the Chief of Defence Staff requesting “the provision of information and numerous documents to assist our client to resolve the incident that took place on February 5.”
However, the Vice Chief of Defence Staff, Brigadier General DL Francis, said none of the requested documents could be provided because it was exempt under section 25 of the Freedom of Information Act.
The attorneys responded saying that the exemptions were not a good enough justification for withholding the information. Francis and Chief of Defence Staff responded in a letter outlining the “directions for opening fire.”
No other response was given to date according to the attorneys’ letter.
“We were informed, however, that the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force has not conducted any investigation into the incident.”
The Coast Guard says its sailors were on patrol when they saw the boat. The officers said attempts were made by the boat to ram their inflatable vessel, causing them to open fire after ordering the captain of the boat to stop. They said it was realised that there were several illegal immigrants hidden onboard only after the shots were fired, and the child was hit in his head.
The migrants claimed they got no warning from the Coast Guard.
