UNC wants PM to answer: Did Trinidad and Tobago promise indemnity to Barbados officials?

AS THE Brent Thomas saga continues, the Opposition wants the Prime Minister to say if he promised an indemnity to the Barbados government and the Barbados officials involved in the matter.

Thomas, owner of Specialist Shooters Training Centre, was initially arrested on September 29, 2022 but was later released. He was re-arrested in Barbados, from where he intended to travel to Miami to meet his cardiologist, and said he was forcibly returned to Trinidad. He was later charged with possession of a series of weapons, including grenades and rifles.

He challenged his detention and the procurement of search warrants for his home and his dealership.

On April 25,2023, Justice Devindra Rampersad ruled in his favour and criticised the investigating officers, calling the scenario an "abduction."

He permanently stayed the seven criminal charges brought against Thomas of being in possession of grenades and automatic rifles, all prohibited by the Firearms Act.

Dr Rowley has since said that the Cabinet had "absolutely nothing" to do with the matter."

Speaking at a press conference on Friday morning, Opposition MP Dinesh Rambally said the matter is a serious one that "strikes at the heart of the Constitution and the rule of law in TT...

"If it is left unchecked and unquestioned, it will have severe consequences for the fundamental rights of citizens of TT."

He added that the government's response was predictable.

Dr Rowley went on to point the finger at the Commissioner of Police and then quite coincidently went on a golfing trip to Barbados, which, of course, was purely a personal vacation and in no way an attempt to try and cover up this perversion of justice.

"As our honourable Leader of the Opposition, herself a former prime minister, made clear, a Commissioner of Police cannot authorize police officers to engage in an operation outside the jurisdiction without informing the government via the minister of national security."

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar has since written to Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley requesting an investigation into the matter.

On May 4, reporters asked Rowley for his thoughts on this, he said, "I have no thoughts on this and it matters not to me. If the Opposition Leader wants to talk to the prime minister of a Caribbean country, she's free to do so."

However, on Thursday night, Rowley issued a statement saying TT has one government which is the "duly elected representative of the people."

But he said while there is also a role and responsibility for the Opposition in the country's affairs, "The latest self-promotion of the Leader of the Opposition as an insertion into the business of the handling of the sensitive Brent Thomas matter between the Government of Barbados and the Royal Barbados Police Force and the Government of TT and the TT police service is a wholly unnecessary and out of place intrusion by the Leader of the Opposition.

"The interest of the people of TT will always be better served and protected if the country has one government at a time."

Rambally said Rowley was being "politically bipolar.

"Why the sudden change of heart, Mr Prime Minister? Are you afraid that the Government of Barbados will now reveal something you want to keep hidden?"

Rambally said the timeline of events surrounding the issue is not a "random series of events.

"This morning we in the Opposition want to ask one clear and simple question: When you travelled to Barbados on your personal vacation, did you also arrange for an indemnity to the Barbados

Government and for the all of the Bajan officials involved in the abduction of Brent Thomas? In other words, has the Cabinet or any of its members recommended or given any indemnity to any person or entity of Barbados and or Caricom for the wrongful and unlawful actions of the (police) or any agents and/or servants of TT involved in the abduction of Brent Thomas?"

On Wednesday, Rowley told the Parliament he did not discuss the Brent Thomas matter with anyone while he was on vacation in Barbados after he was asked about this more than once by the Opposition.

"I had no trip to Barbados to discuss and I did not have any discussion and I want to stay away from the court and Brent Thomas, unlike my colleagues on the other side,” he said.