Hadeeds ... assassination plot probe widens

Businessman Dominic Hadeed and his wife, Genevieve, were freed yesterday. Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander, who disclosed he had revoked the preventative detention orders (PDOs) under which the Hadeeds were being held. According to Alexander, keeping the Hadeeds imprisoned until the end of the state of emergency would be disproportionate, particularly in light of medical concerns surrounding Hadeed. However, while they will no longer be imprisoned, the police criminal investigation involving the Hadeeds will continue, with the minister disclosing that “investigations have been expanded beyond the original scope and spans multiple jurisdictions”.

The minister said he expects the Hadeeds, despite their release, to cooperate with all law enforcement agencies involved in the continuing investigation. In the media release, Alexander detailed the reasons for his decision to revoke the PDOs, noting it came after considering all the circumstances, including a July 21 medical report detailing Hadeed’s condition and the treatment plan recommended by his medical specialist, as well as the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council’s decision not to hear the State’s substantive appeal on an expedited basis.

“I have been advised that the investigations have been expanded beyond the original scope and spans multiple jurisdictions. These matters are complex and require extensive cooperation between several investigative agencies,” he said. Alexander said local and international law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation continue to work on the matter. Despite the ongoing investigation, the minister said the circumstances now weighed in favor of releasing the couple.

Al-Rawi: Hadeeds fully free

Businessman Dominic Hadeed and his wife Genevieve are free to resume their normal lives without restrictions following the revocation of their Preventive Detention Orders (PDOs), Senior Counsel Faris Al-Rawi said yesterday .He noted that the criminal investigation involving the couple remained active and matters arising from their detention were still before the courts.

Al-Rawi said the revocation did not affect the wider legal proceedings, noting that constitutional and judicial review proceedings brought on behalf of the Hadeeds remained before the courts, while the State’s appeal against an earlier Court of Appeal ruling granting them conditional liberty to the Privy Council had also not been withdrawn. The State has appealed that grant of liberty, albeit under condition, and that appeal, as far as I am aware, has not been removed, so until the State actually abandons its appeal, it still is before the Privy Council. It will be set for October. 

Al-Rawi declined to discuss Hadeed’s medical condition further or speculate on whether it may have influenced Alexander’s decision to revoke the detention orders. “I couldn’t possibly say what was in the mind of the Minister of Homeland Security,” he said, adding that Hadeed’s health was a private matter and had only been placed before the court because of the State’s obligations towards people in custody.

Court fast-tracks Hadeed case

The order by the court for an expedited hearing of the High Court proceedings came after attorney Gerald Ramdeen, appearing for the State, indicated to Justices of Appeal Eleanor Donaldson-Honeywell and Joan Charles that while he was not consenting to the expediting of the matter, he was also not objecting to it. During the hearing, Ramdeen said the State was not objecting to the High Court matter being fast-tracked based on the Hadeeds’ continued detention at the time and fresh evidence regarding Dominic Hadeed’s deteriorating medical condition.Ramdeen in response submitted that since the court made the order, he had been waiting to be contacted by Hadeed’s attorneys in terms of them wanting their client to receive the necessary treatment, but no such contact had been made. He said the State was always willing to facilitate any requests by the attorneys to have Hadeed receive the necessary medical care.

Noting their observation of the apparent discomfort of Dominic Hadeed during the virtual hearing, the Justices commended Ramdeen for the position adopted by the State. Although he maintained that High Court Justice Vigel Paul had not erred when he initially declined to fast-track the matter, Ramdeen told the court he did not object to the claim now being treated as urgent in light of the fresh medical evidence that was not previously before the judge. After hearing submissions from Ramdeen and senior counsel Rishi Dass on behalf of the Hadeeds, the Appeal Court declared that “the matters are to be expedited by accelerated and urgent progression of directions”.

Yesterday’s hearing came one week after a three-judge panel comprising Justices Peter Rajkumar, Mira Dean-Armorer and Joan Charles directed that the couple be released from prison custody and instead placed under house arrest at their Bayshore, Westmoorings, home under stringent conditions. The following day, the panel headed by the Chief Justice extended the stay, pending the filing and determination of the State’s appeal against the initial Appeal Court ruling at the London-based Privy Council.

Star Sabga to remain in detention

While Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander lifted the preventive detention orders (PDOs) against Dominic and Genevieve Hadeed yesterday, the one against the 70-year-old Sabga remains in place. When Sabga’s application for interim release came up for hearing before Justice Vigel Paul a short while ago, attorney Gerald Ramdeen, representing Alexander, the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) and the Office of the Attorney General, requested time to respond to the lengthy affidavit filed in support of the application.

Repeatedly stating that he was not seeking to prolong Sabga’s detention, Ramdeen questioned why her legal challenge was not pursued with the same haste as the Hadeeds’. “Nobody came to this court worrying about Star Sabga when the Hadeeds were locked up,” Ramdeen said. “We can’t allow expedition to trump the fundamental rules of fairness,” he added.

Justice Paul eventually agreed to give the State the weekend to respond to the affidavits. He will then hear submissions on the issue at 2 pm on Monday. Through the application, Sabga’s attorneys are asking Justice Paul to grant her house arrest under the same conditions ordered by a panel of the Court of Appeal for the Hadeeds last week.