The statement came from Emanuel Hosein, who was the country's health minister at the time. Hosein said when the insurgents stormed the Red House everyone "hit the ground".
He said a Muslimeen gunman bent down under the table and called out to Planning Minister Winston Dookeran, telling him "yuh didn't plan for that though". He also said the Muslimeen beat up Finance Minister Selby Wilson whom they referred to as 'the IMF man'.
He said the gunman dragged him out by the collar and brought him to the same area where they were holding Robinson and Richardson.
Hosein recalled Robinson's defiant words to the security forces: "They are murderers. They are torturing us. Attack with full force".
He said that was when Abdullah "fired off two quick shots into the leg of Mr Robinson and Mr Richardson."
Hosein said both men groaned in pain as a Muslimeen man pushed a handkerchief in Robinson's mouth and to then put a gag across his mouth. He said he felt Robinson would die from suffocation and rolled over to to Dookeran and said, "Winston yuh see what happening, say yuh going to negotiate".
Hosein told the commissioners he remebered a conversation between Robinson and Dookeran in which Robinson said he didn't want any negotiation.
Another witness, Congress of the People (COP) chairman and former Government Minister Joseph Toney, said police officers aided the Jamaat al Muslimeen in the failed 1990 Muslimeen coup.
When asked about the matter by Commission Chairman Sir David Simmons, Toney confirmed that the information he got from the walkie talkie held by Abdullah suggested that the police on the outside were not interested in the welfare of the hostages and particularly Prime Minister Robinson.
He declined the commission's request to repeat what he heard. "It was vicious language as to what they would wish to befall Mr Robinson and the hostages," he said.
Toney however paraphrased the conversion, which he said focused on the government's austerity measures, which included cuts to the slaraies of public sector workers.
"It was vicious. And I thought at this time that maybe the police were in 'cahoots' with the Muslimeen in this exercise," he said.
"I heard it myself and I was absolutely shocked and horrified that those on the other side of that walkie-talkie, if they were police officers, could have been behaving in such a fashion," Toney said, noting that the persons talking on the other end of the walkie-talkie were employees of the government of Trinidad and Tobago.
Sir David asked Toney about the noticeable absence of several prominent leaders during the coup attempt, including President Noor Hassanali, was out of the country.
Patrick Manning and Basdeo Panday left Parliament early that day as did Speaker of the House Nizam Mohammed. Commissioner of Police Jules Bernard was out of the country.
Toney called it a coincidence that Panday, Manning and Mohammed were not in parliament since it was not unusual for MPs to leave early, if they did not have to vote.
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