‘Chris Must List’ gets his passport but cannot leave Trinidad and Tobago yet

CANADIAN YouTuber Christopher “Chris Must List” Hughes has received a variation in his bail conditions and will have his passport returned to him.

He has also been permitted to appear virtually for his next court hearing in January.

However, he is not yet free to leave Trinidad and Tobago, as he first has to receive the permission of the Chief Immigration Officer (CIO) to do so. If he is denied, he will again have to approach the High Court for permission to travel.

Hughes appeared before Justice Indrani Cedeno on September 13. Hughes, who is on $100,000 bail on his sedition charge, is required to apply to the High Court for any variation of his bail conditions and for permission to travel.

He is currently before acting Chief Magistrate Christine Charles on a single sedition charge which alleges that on May 9, he published a seditious publication (an audio-visual video) on the social media platform YouTube.

Hughes was first arrested in May and then charged. He returned to Canada and returned for his case in late August. On September 5, he was again arrested, for allegedly having evidence of money laundering, based on a video he published.

He was arrested for a third time on September 7, and detained for deportation. However, his attorneys approached the High Court to challenge his deportation and detention by Immigration, and on September 9, attorneys for the Minister of National Security gave an undertaking not to deport Hughes until his lawsuit was heard and determined and to release him. He walked out of the Immigration Detention Centre in Aripo later that night and appeared for his order of supervision at the Immigration Division the next day.

The supervision order prevents him from leaving TT without the CIO’s permission and also dictates he has to report to the division in ten days.

In an interview with Newsday on September 10, Hughes accused the Government of tarnishing his name and infringing on his freedoms. Despite this, he said he still loved the country but feared for his safety and freedom while he faces the sedition charge.

“Before the sedition charge, I was held on a set of gang-related charges. There was no evidence of that. Then, they threw the sedition charge.

“There is no evidence of that. Then they threw the money laundering charge, and there was no evidence of that. So now they are going through the deportation order. What’s next?

“I have been to wars around the world. I have been to places like Haiti, which is more dangerous than here.
"But here I am waking up with cold sweats every night. It is like post-traumatic stress disorder, where I can hear police breaking into my house. It is a fear that I have never felt before. I really fear for my safety.”

He believes police and other forces are trying to sway the public interest by tarnishing his name.

“After my first release of sedition, the public was behind me 100 per cent. Now, with this allegation of money laundering, 25 out of that 100 per cent will now say: ‘Maybe he is here doing something; why is he here?’ Now I am arrested and thrown into migrant jail. Now, more people are dropping off. This is all to make me look bad,” he told Newsday’s Ryan Hamilton-Davis.

Hughes said the legal troubles he is facing in TT may not only affect his freedom here, but with the allegations levied against him, it could affect him and his livelihood.

“Whether I am guilty or not, those charges and allegations are going to follow me for the rest of my life. So I am scared.

"I’m not scared of people; I am scared of the power of what this government can do.”