By JADA LOUTOO Saturday, February 4 2012

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WITNESS: Raymond Julien who told the Commission of Enquiry that the attempted coup ended his career as a police officer....

FORMER acting sergeant of police, Raymond Julien, hid for two days on the roof of the Parliament Building, dodging bullets and enduring two nights of rainfall during the July 27, 1990, attempted coup.

The traumatic experience, he said, ended his career as a police officer.

Julien, who was asked at the eleventh hour to form part of the security detail at the Red House, said his hiding place was discovered and he was made to come down by Jamaat al Muslimeen insurgents, and with guns pointed at him, he was blindfolded, slapped and cuffed.

Julien told the commission of enquiry investigating events surrounding the failed coup, he felt he would not live.

He was bare-footed, his hands were swollen from being bound, and he left his shirt in the roof, where he took it off and used it as a flag.

Eventually, Julien was taken to the Parliament Chamber where former prime minister Arthur NR Robinson and other parliamentarians were being held hostage.

He said he spoke with both Robinson and former national security minister, Selwyn Richardson, both of whom had been shot. Julien said he neither ate nor drank anything, and was told to urinate on the floor of the Chamber, by the insurgents. One day before he was released along with the other hostages, Julien told the commission, high-ranking Muslimeen member, Bilaal Abdulah, ordered his men to take him (Julien) outside. Using his forefinger to demonstrate, Julien said Abdulah gave his men a sign to cut his throat. He said Abdulah appeared to change his mind, and instructed his men to leave Julien in the Chamber.

After being taken to Camp Ogden in St James, where he received medical treatment, he went to the Besson Street Police Station, where he was stationed. Julien said he was able to speak with his family and assured them that he was alive.

Admitting he was still traumatised by what he endured, Julien said he was told to report to the St Ann’s Psychiatric Hospital for treatment, but he eventually abandoned it and went to a private doctor who helped him somewhat. He also turned down an offer for treatment abroad, as he would have had to find his own accommodation. His salary was also stopped briefly, and he had to submit a report to provide proof that he was alive.

“I never went back into duty,” he said. Four years after the 1990 attempted coup, Julien left the police service on medical grounds. “Since then I have not been able to pick up gainful employment,” he said. He survives on his pension, and was never offered any assistance by the TT Police Service.

“It (the attempted coup) affected my personality and my interaction with people. It is still a problem for me,” he told the commission. He was also on active duty during the 1970 uprising.

Julien said when he was instructed to replace one of the officers on duty at the Red House, they were given instructions to search the bags and parcels of anyone entering the public gallery. He said it was the first time they received that instruction, although on the few previous occasions he was at the Parliament he used his initiative and did so. This, he said, caused him some trouble as political supporters complained to their MPs about him.

Julien said he never received information, nor was he briefed by his seniors about the Jamaat al Muslimeen being a threat.

Years after his ordeal, Julien said he was introduced to one of the insurgents who was in the Red House. The man, he said, took him for a beer and while he resented his captors, and still does, he did not seek to retaliate. “I just let it pass. He appeared remorseful,” he told the commission.

Chairing the commission is Sir David Simmons, QC, it also includes commissioners Sir Richard Cheltenham, QC, Dr Eastlyn Mc Kenzie, Diana Mahabir-Wyatt and Dr Hafizool Ali Mohammed. The sittings are being held at the Caribbean Court of Justice, Port-of-Spain and will resume on Monday, when former Head of the Public Service Reginald Dumas, is expected to testify.