Police mocked burning teens

DAVID SUAZO, one of two survivors of a fire that incinerated five teenagers in a junvenile detention center has described in court the harrowing details of the deaths of his companions as police stood by and mocked their screams  for help.

 The fire in the Juvenile Detention Center on January 9, 2011 was started by tear gas grenades fired into Cell 6 by police. Suazo said his companions begged the police to let them leave, but they, and other custodians, mocked what was happening.[TV images at the time showed guard laughing and calling out “burn burn”.]
His evidence was given on Wednesday, July 15, the third day of the preliminary hearing of nine policemen, two custodians and Iris Cedeno, former director of the t center for the alleged offenses of murder, attempted murder and inhuman treatment to the detriment of the inmates.
Suazo recalled that the seven inmates of cell 6 did not participate in protests over water shortages performing another group, resulting in police repression.
He said that despite this, they fired two tear gas canisters were fired into the cell causing the fire, and one of the guards introduced the barrel of a shotgun through the bars and made two detonations.
He said that smoke prevented him from breathing, so he crawled under the bed to try to escape the fire, listening to his colleagues crying for help and screaming desperately for the cell to be opened.
He said that when he came out of hiding his partner Benjamin Mojica fell on him. “It was like a corpse, totally burnt,” he said.
Also he reported that the cell 6 had a state of confusion by the smoke, the screams and the stifling heat. “They were desperate moments that became eternal,” he said.
“When the cell door opened I got a blow to the head that left me dizzy; I got into the prison yard and with Erick Batista. We got into the ambulance, and they took us to Santo Tomas Hospital where I was in a coma for 13 days, “he said.
Suazo recognized Second Lieutenant Ernesto Roger Blake and Eduardo after Barreno (accused in this process) as two of the policemen who shouted insults them and said, “Why are you calling youmothers, if you are men?”.
He also explained that now he has difficulty breathing and holding his arms up, as a result of burns and, after leaving the hospital, never received psychological assistance.
Judge Maria de Lourdes Estrada denied a motion from attorney Nora Sanchez, who represents the family of Victor Jimenez , one of the five dead children, for Suazo to show the scars from his burns on chest, back and neck.
In the last two days, the trial has been held up by the delay in the transfer of the accused policemen, who are being held at the headquarters of the National Police, in Ancon, doing administrative work