Trini fishermen released by Venezuela court

File photo: Coast Guard vessel
File photo: Coast Guard vessel

Three TT fishermen taken by the Guardia Nacional last week have been released by a court in Venezuela, reported National Security Minister Edmund Dillon.

He provided the update on Wednesday in the Senate in response to a question from Opposition Senator Saddam Hosein.

He said on Tuesday at the First Instance Criminal Court for State and Municipal Functions at Tucupita the nationals – 52-year-old Awardnath Hajarie, his 26-year-old son Nicholas Hajarie and 35-year-old friend Shami Seepersad ­– appeared before the court and were released and efforts were being made to return them to Trinidad and Tobago and to the Cedros port of entry.

Hosein said in light of reports of the illegality of their arrest and that they were captured in Trinidadian waters whether Dillon was launching an investigation into the issue and Dillon responded the Foreign Affairs Ministry was investigating the incident.

Video footage which began circulating last Thursday showed the fishermen being forced out of their pirogue and into another by Spanish-speaking men off the coast of Cedros. With guns pointing at them, the Spanish-speaking men forced the three onto their pirogue and sped away. The incident occurred at Soldado rock, which is about seven miles from the coast of the Venezuelan mainland.

The armed foreigners, believed to be members of Venezuela’s Guardia Nacional, sped away.

Awardnath Hajarie had planned to get married to Hermatie Sankar, 50, on May 16.

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"Trini fishermen released by Venezuela court"

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