Kamla: Rowley's vacation in Barbados 'highly suspicious'

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar has called out the Prime Minister's planned vacation in Barbados as "highly suspicious" amid investigations there and in TT over the "abduction" by Barbadian police and return of firearms dealer Brent Thomas reportedly on a request by TT police.

The Prime Minister on Thursday said he had arranged his trip to Barbados to spend with friends since April and had no plans of speaking with officials on the issue which arose in a High Court judge's ruling to stay charges against Thomas in a scathing criticism of how law enforcement officials handled his detention and return to Trinidad.

Dr Rowley has since tasked National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds to get a report from Police Commissioner Erla Christopher-Harewood in the matter. It emerged in the Barbados media on Wednesday that the country's attorney general Dale Marshall has also asked their police commission for a report on the incident.

"It is unbelievable that Rowley’s sudden and highly suspicious trip to Barbados is a personal vacation that was planned in advance and not related to this expanding abduction scandal engulfing both governments," Persad-Bissessar said in a statement after Rowley's media conference at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann's.

"The Commissioner of Police does not have the authority to deploy officers to function in any operation outside of the jurisdiction of Trinidad and Tobago without government knowledge via the Minister of National Security."

The Prime Minister had said the method by which Thomas was removed from Barbados had been used several times but he gave no details of the nature of such arrangements nor the cases.

Persad-Bissessar said Rowley's position that he has “nothing to answer for” was "unbelievable."

In his ruling on April 25, Justice Devindra Rampersad found that warrants for Thomas executed by senior officer ASP Birch and others were "unlawfully obtained." He criticised the police for the "abduction of Thomas in Barbados" by the use of a non-commercial aircraft of the Defence Force. However, Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young disclosed in Parliament last Friday that the aircraft was assigned to the Regional Security Services in Barbados. RSS was formed in 1982 as a Caricom agency to respond to regional security threats. He was responding to Opposition MP Dr Roodal Moonilal who raised the issue during a no-confidence motion against Hinds. Hinds in a statement via state-owned TTT on Tuesday denied any government official was involved and implied some criminals had links in law enforcement agencies, Parliament and the Judiciary, and that the judge's ruling would be appealed. Attorney General Reginald Armour has since defended Hinds against criticisms of this statement, confirmed the appeal which the Prime Minister said would be filed on Friday. Although saying he was not directly involved he said the police would present their case in the appeal.

Persad-Bissessar questioned the explanations.

"Rowley wants citizens to believe that as members of the National Security Council, he and Fitzgerald Hinds had no idea how police officers ASP Birch, Senior Supt Suzette Martin and Cpl Joefield were all able to commandeer a CARICOM aircraft, to forcibly and illegally detain and abduct Brent Thomas from Barbados.

"It is my information that:

• If any police officer has to travel abroad for any duty, approval is required from the Minister of National Security.

• The Commissioner of Police does not have the authority to deploy officers to function in any operation outside of the jurisdiction of Trinidad and Tobago without government knowledge via the Minister of National Security.

• With respect to the use of a Caricom aircraft, no commissioner of police would have unfettered access, to use said aircraft at his or her pleasure without the Minister's approval."

"Therefore, the question must be asked, why hasn’t disciplinary action been taken against these officers for this illegal abduction?"