Members of the UNC were kept under armed guard in another part of the Parliament Chamber, Johnson told the commissioners.
“Guns were not placed to the heads of the UNC members. The UNC members were separated. There was a distinct separation,” she said. She admitted difficulty in reliving the events but said 20 Muslimeen members bound and gagged government ministers shortly after they stormed the Red House.
Johnson said the next morning the insurrectionists ordered government ministers to line up for possible execution but the UNC members did not suffer the same fate.
Johnson identified the Muslimeen's second in command Bilal Abdullah as the person who was in charge of the operations at the Red House. The former minister said Abdullah told the men, “Mark your targets now. As soon as the lights go off, shoot.”
She said, "From the time they entered Parliament and started their operation, it was quite obvious that members of the government were the ones targeted.
“They allowed some of the Opposition members to leave. They were shouting, ‘Where Sello! Where Robbie! Where the IMF man?'"
'Sello' was former PNM Attorney General Selwyn Richardson who was at the time the National Security Minister and was leading the anti-corruption campaign against the previous PNM administration.
'Robbie' was the Prime Minister and the 'IMF man' was Finance Minister Selby Wilson who was negotiating a financial package with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Johnson said the insurrectionists brought in Canon Knolly Clarke to be a part of negotiations between the Government and the Muslimeen.
The day before in his testimony before the commsioner then Prime Minister A.N.R.Robinson expressed surprise that Clarke passed him while he lay bound, gagged and bleeding on the floor without acknowledging him.
Johnson told the commission that Clarke begged for the protective services outside to stop shooting and announced an amnesty. She added that the Muslimeen forced government ministers to sign a document stating that no foreign intervention be allowed in the goings-on.
The storming of the Parliament occurred after the tea break when some members had left for the day, among them Speaker Nizam Mohammed, Opposition Leader Patrick Manning and UNC leader Basdeo Panday.
Johnson said the NAR government had lost popularity by July 1990, noting that one reason for that was the break with a group led by Panday that went on to form the UNC. However she was careful not to suggest that the UNC faction had any influence on what transpired.
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