T&T: Rowley slams Opposition leader over letter to Barbados PM

CMC – Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley has described as “wholly unnecessary and out of place intrusion,” a move by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar to write Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley in the matter in which a High Court judge here said a Trinidad and Tobago national had been “abducted” in Barbados and brought back to Port of Spain to face criminal charges.

“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 Trinidad and Tobago and the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service is a wholly unnecessary and out of place intrusion by the Leader of the Opposition,” Rowley said in a statement posted on the website of the office of the Prime Minister.

In her May 10 letter to Mottley, Persad-Bissessar said the matter involving the firearms dealer, Thomas, calls for transparency and accountability.

“It has caused damage to the reputation of both our nations which subscribe to the fundamental rule of law. To restore confidence and in the interest of the people of our two nations, I respectfully call upon you, as Prime Minister of the Republic of Barbados, to initiate a full, public inquiry into this matter,” Persad Bissessar wrote.

She said that Thomas’ return to Port of Spain by members of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) represents a serious breach of the rule of law and the constitutional rights of a citizen of this country.

“To date, Keith Rowley has incredulously denied any knowledge of this illegal action. I maintain that this carefully coordinated and illegal operation could not have been sanctioned without the approval of the highest offices in the land, including the Commissioner of Police, the Minister of National Security, the Attorney General, and Prime Minister Keith Rowley,” she stated.

In his statement, Prime Minister Rowley said Trinidad and Tobago “has one Government and that is the duly elected representative of the people,” adding “there is a role for the Opposition and a role and responsibility for the Government in managing the affairs of the state of Trinidad and Tobago:

Rowley said that the “interest of the people of Trinidad and Tobago will always be better served and protected if the country has one Government at a time”.

Earlier this week, Attorney General Reginald Armour said the state wanted the Court of Appeal to hear as a matter of urgency, the appeal against a High Court judge ruling in the matter.

He said that the application by the state is asking the Court of Appeal to hear this appeal “urgently in priority over all other appeals, for national security reasons and, to correct the grave errors made by the trial judge so as to permit the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service to continue to do their work to protect and serve the citizens of this Republic”.

In his ruling Justice Devindra Rampersad found that the detention and transporting of Thomas from Barbados to Trinidad and Tobago via a non-commercial aircraft constituted an “abduction”, and ruled that Thomas’ constitutional rights had been breached and that his arrest and detention were therefore “unconstitutional, unlawful, arbitrary, unnecessary and disproportionate”.

But the state in its appeal is arguing that constitutional protection offered by the  Constitution does not extend extra-territorially, and is therefore not applicable to events taking place in Barbados and to the Barbados police.

Thomas was first arrested on September 29, 2022, and later released.  He was re-arrested in Barbados, from where he said he intended to travel to Miami to meet his cardiologist, and returned forcibly to Trinidad and Tobago.

He was later charged with possession of a series of weapons, including grenades and rifles.

Thomas had in a constitutional motion challenged his detention and the procurement of search warrants for his home and his dealership.

On Tuesday, Barbados Attorney General, Dale Marshall, told his Parliament that no request had been made for the extradition of Thomas and described as “unfortunate language” the Trinidad and Tobago High Court characterization of what transpired in Barbados on October 5 last year in relation to Thomas.

“I can confirm that no request was made for the extradition of Mr. Thomas,” he told legislators, adding “from the reports that I have received, I am satisfied that the actions of the Barbados Police Service have fallen short of applicable legal norms, such as acting under an extradition request.

“I, however, cannot associate myself with the description of the actions of the Barbados Police officers as an abduction or as has been elsewhere been described as a kidnapping,” Marshall added.

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