Soca Warriors Online Discussion Forum
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: Sam on June 09, 2006, 03:39:14 AM
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Bakr claims secret debt deal with PNM.
Darren Bahaw (Express).
Startling details of a secret agreement allegedly forged by the leadership of the ruling People's National Movement (PNM) to forgive a multi-million debt owed by the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen to the State in exchange for election muscle during the controversial 2001 general election were revealed yesterday.
In a 61-paragraph affidavit filed in the Port of Spain Civil Registry at the Hall of Justice, the incarcerated leader of the Jamaat, Imam Yasin Abu Bakr, 64, contended that the debt to the State had been satisfied as he and members of his organisation had fulfilled their end of the deal allegedly made with Prime Minister Patrick Manning.
The 26-page court document was filed in opposition to a lawsuit filed by Attorney General John Jeremie on February 6, which identified several properties purportedly owned by Abu Bakr and Kala Aki Bua, the interim leader of the Jamaat, to put up for sale to satisfy part of the debt which now stands at more than $32 million.
Attorneys representing Abu Bakr and Aki Bua filed the affidavit five days after the June 2 deadline and will be hoping to convince Justice Rajendra Narine to grant them permission to use it as part of their defence to a lawsuit filed by the Attorney General, claiming that the action was an abuse of process and should be dismissed. The matter comes up for hearing on June 12 and has been fixed to proceed.
Attorneys Dana Seetahal SC, Rikki Harnanan and State attorney Sean Julien are representing the Attorney General.
Judgment was entered against the Jamaat and 57 of the 114 members who took part in the attempted coup on July 27, 1990 after they had been served with notice of the proceedings on September 16, 1996 after no defence had been filed in relation to a 1994 lawsuit claiming compensation for damage for destruction to the Police Headquarters in Port of Spain.
Justice Joseph Tam subsequently assessed adequate compensation at $15 million and with three per cent interest per annum from July 27, 1990 and 12 per cent for each year the sum remained unpaid following the assessment in January, 2001.
The debt carries a daily interest rate of $6,480.30.
At the last hearing, one of Abu Bakr's attorneys, Mark Seepersad, informed the judge that he intended to argue that his clients did not owe the State any money but the judge noted that that was not an issue for him to decide.
Narine noted then that all he had to decide was whether the 11 properties identified by the State could be sold to offset part of the debt.
Attorneys Gerald Ramdeen and Lemuel Murphy are also representing the defendants.
Abu Bakr deposed to several meetings held with Manning and Culture and Gender Affairs Minister Joan Yuille-Williams at Balisier House, the PNM headquarters, during the run-up to the 2002 general election where he agreed to use his influence to reduce crime in certain hot spots, mobilise people in the "ghetto" areas to come out and vote, spent $1.2 million to ensure a high voter turn-out in marginal seats, endorse the PNM for re-elections and ensure the orderly implementation of social programmes in the targeted marginal constituencies.
In exchange, Abu Bakr said the Jamaat wanted the eight acres of land at Mucurapo, inclusion of the Mucurapo Islamic College in the Concordat to be able to access funding from Government, forgiveness of any debt owed to the State, full and final payment of money owed by the State to the Jamaat and fair treatment as any other community organisation.
Abu Bakr claims that while the Jamaat and its membership held up its end of the bargain the present Government has reneged on the deal.
He is awaiting trial on five criminal offences relating to his controversial Eid sermon and has been denied bail in prison since his arrest on November 7 last year.
He is also awaiting a retrial on a charge of conspiring to murder two expelled members of the Jamaat.
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Bakr go start to say all kinda ting now to descredit
my pardner grow up without he fadder because of bakr and his band of c***s....leh he enjoy de jail crix oui
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THANK THE PNM? (http://newsday.co.tt/commentary/0,59375.html)
PETER O'CONNOR
Trinidad & Tobago Newsday
Sunday, June 24 2007
In another one of his ridiculous boasting sessions, our Prime Minister Patrick Manning announced that it is “the PNM which has us where we are today.” This is so true, and so sad. One would have thought that any leader of a government which is failing so emphatically, on so many fronts, would have avoided such a ridiculous statement. However, it is the measure of how deep the PNM’s head is in the sand that they can continue to delude themselves into believing that things are not in the state of collapse which we all know to be reality.
It is not for us to wonder at the mental state of our leadership, drowning in total incompetence yet praising themselves for their pathetic failings. But we must wonder at a media which reports these statements without comment.
And where is it that “we are today,” which makes our Prime Minister boast to us? Incidents of violent crime are still much higher than when the PNM came into office, although they boast that the rate is lower than last year. However, when six persons are murdered in one weekend, we know that Trinidad is still a frightening place in which to live, and we know that it is the PNM that has brought us to this state. It was Manning’s choice, in July 1990, to dismiss the terrorist attack upon our government as a minor quarrel, and to never lift a finger to help our country in its darkest hour. It was Manning’s choice to never utter a word of condemnation against the attempted coup, even as he now struts before foreign media and declares he will never tolerate terrorism in any form.
Crime detection rates are lower than they have ever been, and convictions are just about impossible to secure. Police fail to appear in the courts in thousands of cases, and the Minister of National Security and the Attorney General do not even know until the media tells them! But when they hold a consultation on crime they boast about how much money they have spent! This is where the PNM has us today.
The Health Ministry is an ongoing horror story. The tales coming out of Sando General are almost beyond belief. When the situation was reported in all the media, the head of staff claimed he was unaware of the situation. The disasters with children at Mount Hope, the fact that the Arima hospital had an MRI machine sitting in its box for over a year, the fact that the same hospital was completed some twelve years ago, but the two surgical theatres (outfitted and paid for) have never been used, all demonstrate the alarming ineptitude of this ministry. This is where the PNM has us today.
The PNM saw us saddled with the Prime Minister’s wife as our Minister of Education. Her reign has been marked by schools falling apart, parents and children protesting, children completing school yet unable to read and write, and sex orgies, filmed by children for children, regularly taking place in secondary schools. This is where the PNM has us today.
The failure of our infrastructure, the inability to supply water, the ongoing flooding after slight showers of rain, the increasing electrical outages, and the appalling traffic gridlock on our highways and city streets, are all examples of “where the PNM has us today.” The fact that people have to line up in the rain at 3.00 am to try to acquire a passport, that it takes a full day to renew a drivers’ permit, or to donate a pint of blood, are all testimony to the utter failure of a government, awash with money, that does not have the capability to deliver any basic amenity to its people. This is where the PNM has us today.
But while Manning and his cabinet hallucinate about 2020, and believe that the construction of useless buildings, and a grand palace for the Executive President are signs of “development,” and while he can have thousands of young people kept in bondage, under the day-to-day supervision of the Muslimeen, he can fool himself that these are things of which he can be proud. Indeed, it is the PNM that has these poor people in their pitiful state today. “Great is the PNM...”, and to hell with the nation.
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Guess what? It will be the PNM for at least another 5 years if your jokey party cannot get their act together.
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Either way is a jokey situation down they .So your devil better than they devil .
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Either way is a jokey situation down they .So your devil better than they devil .
yep
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Either way is a jokey situation down they .So your devil better than they devil .
yep
bakr is a cool fellah believe it or not, hes not a racist, not an anti-unity advocate, but if man pay money, dey get their moneys worth, patrick pay de money.... in trinidad its a sad state bc all u need is money, integrity, wisdom, heart and soul, genuine goodness and intelligence is negated by bad politics on both ends...
both parties are corrupted, pnm even more so bc of their long tenure and the amount of money that was stolen from our nation, i will vote for the party who could run the nation better, the greater manager of both evils... pnm has proven to fail in management of the nation under patrick, the pnm needs another leader who has a vision.... but who cares ent, everyone making money, dats the trini mentality, as long as i eat ah food i happy, which is why our nation is the way it is...
God is de BOSS...
God is de BOSS....
yuh does real talk shit! When Manning tief anything? Show me de proof, better yet take yuh proof to Camini Maraj and show she so she could edify all ah we.
Yuh ever vote in T&T?
steups. And which party has better management?
And yuh always throwing words dat PNM pay me..what f**king money dey give me.
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Did the UNC do a better job in government than the current PNM? I remember World Cup Stadia and Airport and Panday fighting with the media for whatever reason....o and dole chadee.
They weren't in power for long before they shoot themselves in the foot but were they getting things done? This is not talked about because corruption for the airport project rightly took them out of serious consideration. It still worth discussing to see what positives they achieved.
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Why is it that njac never even won a seat in parlament, are they that outragous. i was a junior member as a youth and i thought they were a very solid party. to bad they never got a chance, maybe it's the 70 thing that turn ppl off, or maybe they need a new leader. the last i heard dagger was still in the leadership position, what's the deal with old fellas and power boy?
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Did the UNC do a better job in government than the current PNM? I remember World Cup Stadia and Airport and Panday fighting with the media for whatever reason....o and dole chadee.
They weren't in power for long before they shoot themselves in the foot but were they getting things done? This is not talked about because corruption for the airport project rightly took them out of serious consideration. It still worth discussing to see what positives they achieved.
world cup stadia? yuh mean JAck Warner corruption stadia..and old school in biche, and billions fuh dat shit ass airport? Or apartment in london, or Duprey? or gil, or John..or millions stolen?
talk about management..they werent in power long because they were too damn bold faced and corrupt.
Did I feel they had competent people? YES! Did I find that they did a good job?
Hell no!
And they are too power hungry, especially that Panday!
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world cup stadia? yuh mean JAck Warner corruption stadia..and old school in biche, and billions fuh dat shit ass airport? Or apartment in london, or Duprey? or gil, or John..or millions stolen?
talk about management..they werent in power long because they were too damn bold faced and corrupt.
Did I feel they had competent people? YES! Did I find that they did a good job?
Hell no!
And they are too power hungry, especially that Panday!
yes yes we all know about the bad. I want to know what good they did...it should not be overlooked when judging the current administration.
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world cup stadia? yuh mean JAck Warner corruption stadia..and old school in biche, and billions fuh dat shit ass airport? Or apartment in london, or Duprey? or gil, or John..or millions stolen?
talk about management..they werent in power long because they were too damn bold faced and corrupt.
Did I feel they had competent people? YES! Did I find that they did a good job?
Hell no!
And they are too power hungry, especially that Panday!
yes yes we all know about the bad. I want to know what good they did...it should not be overlooked when judging the current administration.
whats wrong with you breddah, only edi manning the crime minister does do good... :devil: unc never do nothing for the nation, despite the fact foreign investors who have spoken to me personally and stated they never want to deal with mannning again after dealing with him once... our foreign investment could be at a much higher rate than what it is right now, our roi has dwindled with the manning admin, compared to the 6 years unc was in power, right now i just stating facts, the pnm needs a new leader and vision, a united colourless vision...
God is de BOSS......
which f**king foreign investors you talk to? steups yuh feel i je born or what?
And the T&T credit rating is highest now dan ever before...add to de fact dat we have MORE foreign investors now dan ever before, not to mention de T&T government divesting etc.
yuh does real talk shit.
Besides no investor has to deal with manning, in fact you will find dat T&T is doing very well in the trade department.
yuh talking SHIT!
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http://www.imf.org/external/np/fin/tad/exportal.aspx?memberKey1=960&date1key=2007-05-31&category=EXC In fact what de arse de IMF and de world bank have to do with we ever increasing gdp?
steups, all dat come because DIS government chose tuh accelerate de pace of publc sector reform, including thru de revisions in the compensation system, the introduction of performance benchmarks, and the devolution of autonomy to key departments and local governments. Divestment and restructuring of several state-owned entities is crucial to improve their financial viability and efficiency in delivery of services. BPTT, Atlantic LNG, Smelters, PCS Nitrogen etc.
his torically, trinidad always had low debt because of de oil, so dat was never factor in e credit rating. In fact during de 80's when most of de western hemisphere was suffering from rising debt we had enough in we reserves to avoid geavy borrowing. even when we was hitting hard times due to falling oil prices/energy crisis days.
in de 70's and 80's we were an exception to ALL other dveloping countries in dat we did not need to keep borrowing from nobody, especially IMF and world bank, if yuhknow anything about this kinda talk yuh woulda know dat 78% all we borrowing was thru commercial banks!
Even den we had a very good credit rating, is jes now at its highest level ever!!
Title: Trinidad And Tobago LT FC Ratings Raised To 'A-', LT LC Rating Raised To 'A+'; Outlook Stable
Price: $175.00
Publication Date: Jul 21, 2005
Report Type: News
Issuer: Trinidad and Tobago (Republic of)
Excerpt: NEW YORK (Standard & Poor's) July ##, ####--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that it raised its long-term foreign currency sovereign credit rating on the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago to '##' from '###+' and its long-term local currency sovereign credit rating to '##' from 'A'. Standard & Poor's also affirmed its '###' short-term foreign and '###' short-term local currency sovereign credit ratings on the republic. The outlook on the long-term ratings was revised to stable from positive. According to Standard & Poor's credit analyst Roberto Sifon Arevalo, the upgrades reflect increased policy flexibility resulting from continuing surpluses in Trinidad and Tobago's fiscal and external accounts, the buffer against economic shocks provided by the growing Heritage and Stabilization Fund
Sector: Structured Finance, Global Issuers, Sovereigns, Asset-Backed Securities
Word Count: 610
Format: HTML
Free Sample: Click Here to Download
S&P Affirms Trinidad and Tobago’s Credit Rating
The Trinidad and Tobago economy received another positive review by international rating agency, Standard
and Poor’s recently. On 6 October 2006, S&P affirmed the country’s foreign currency rating at A- with a stable
outlook.
If yuh want to launch a valid criticsm, say dat we is ah one horse town and dat de government needs to divest in something other dan non-energy, den yuh would get some pips.
odderwise we is ah tiger in ah sea ah pussy cats fella. we really need to protect we assets and economy thru non energy investments in trute becasue anything dat disrupts dat will be disaster fuh we nation!
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State beats Bakr in Privy Council
Jamaat al Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr yesterday lost his appeal in the Privy Council, as the State moved closer to selling off 11 properties to satisfy a $32 million debt arising from the destruction of Police Headquarters during the 1990 attempted coup.
Bakr was hoping that the Law Lords would reinstate an affidavit he filed, but the Privy Council, in a 12-page judgment, said it was irrelevant to the proceedings. “It is on this ground of irrelevance, rather than that of any inconvenience or embarrassment to the Prime Minister, that the board consider that the decision of the Court of Appeal should be affirmed,” the Privy Council stated.
As a result, when Bakr returns to court on May 13, a date will be set for the conclusion of the summons for sale order. The Privy Council, which comprised Lords Hope, Rodger, Carswell, Neuberger and Lady Hale, also ordered Bakr to pay costs, which would be more than $1 million. Bakr was represented by Geoffrey Robertson, QC, and Sadakat Kadri. Counsel for the Attorney General were James Dingemans, QC, Douglas Mendes, SC, and John Almeida.
In 1994, the State commenced proceedings against Bakr and 113 members of the Jamaat for the destruction of Police Headquarters and damage to the Red House during the attempted coup. On September 6, 1996, the State obtained judgment in default of defence for damages to be assessed. On January 15, 2001, Justice Joseph Tam assessed judgment in the sum of $15 million with interest. That sum reached $32 million in 2006.
On February 6, 2006, the Attorney General issued a summons seeking the sale of 11 properties in an effort to satisfy the judgment. On June 8, 2006, Bakr swore to an affidavit in response. The substance of his defence was that, in a series of meetings between himself and Prime Minister Patrick Manning, he claimed that Manning agreed that the judgment debt would not be enforced.
The Attorney General moved to strike out the affidavit. In the affidavit, Bakr claimed that during meetings with Manning, he was asked to mobilise young people to vote for the People’s National Movement (PNM) in marginal constituencies in 2002, and to assist in curbing the increase in crime in certain areas. In the affidavit, Bakr said he presented Manning with a shopping list of what the Jamaat wanted in exchange for assisting the Government.
He said the Jamaat had decided that before they agreed to work with the Government, they had to have an agreement on certain matters, including assurances that there would be no attempt to enforce payment of the judgment debt. Bakr claimed that Manning called the judgment for damages a “paper judgment” which would never be enforced. On December 8, 2006, Justice Rajendra Narine dismissed the AG’s application to strike out Bakr’s affidavit. The AG appealed, and on January 15, 2007, the Court of Appeal comprising Justices Allan Mendonca, Ivor Archie, and Wendell Kangaloo, threw out Bakr’s affidavit. Bakr then appealed to the Privy Council.
In the judgment, Lord Carswell said: “It is important to note that the case concerns a private law action brought by the Attorney General on behalf of the State of Trinidad and Tobago against the Jamaat for damages. If the Prime Minister made an agreement on the lines alleged in the affidavit, it could not have been made on behalf of the State.” Lord Carswell said the agreement referred to in the affidavit was on its terms designed to advance the electorial prospects of the Prime Minister’s political party, and was not binding on the State.
“The essence of the agreement between the Prime Minister and Mr Abu Bakr on behalf of the Jamaat was that certain advantages would be given to the Jamaat out of State property, in return for securing voting support for the Prime Minister’s political party,” Carswell said. “In the opinion of the board, this was corrupt within the meaning and intendment of Section 3 (of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1987) and each party to the agreement was acting in contravention of the section.” The Court of Appeal held that the agreement was illegal at common law. Carswell said the agreement was illegal from its inception.
PROPERTIES FOR SALE
Jamaat al Muslimeen compound at 1 Mucurapo Road, St James.
Bakr’s homes at Queen’s Park East, La Puerta Avenue, Diego Martin.
Several parcels of land in Marabella, Couva, Guayaguayare and Las Cuevas, belonging to Kala Akii Bua, Gary Phillips and Ahmad Islam Ali. Value of the properties is estimated at $9,581,000.
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:o
i eh realise the actual jamaat compound would be for sale too...well look trouble!
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:o
i eh realise the actual jamaat compound would be for sale too...well look trouble!
Believe dat when I C it.
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wait nah. Abu Bakr walking free since 1990?
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they still fukkin around with this clown.
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wait nah. Abu Bakr walking free since 1990?
Cosign
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wait nah. Abu Bakr walking free since 1990?
Cosign
Cosign de cosign ;D
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Mods before alyuh chook this in General Section...give it a few hrs here nah...is a national coach talking here, and is a serious matter.
Source Trinidad Guardian
(http://guardian.co.tt/files/imagecache/article_main_image/articles/images/Jamal%20Shabazz.png?)
Jamal Shabazz: 1990 coup bid calls for serious analysis
Yvonne Baboolal
Published: 2 Aug 2009
Yvonne Baboolal
Former Muslimeen insurrectionist, Jamal Shabazz, believes there should be a serious analysis of everything surrounding the July 27, 1990, attempted coup of which he was a part. Shabazz was 27 when he was “given the job” to take over Radio Trinidad that Friday afternoon, announce the attempted coup, and reassure the population that the action had nothing to do with the setting up of an Islamic fundamentalist state. The following day, Shabazz joined the Muslimeen’s Imam, Yasin Abu Bakr, and his third in command, Hasan Anyabwile, at Trinidad and Tobago Television (TTT), where they held workers hostage for six days. Last Thursday, Shabazz, 46, now a football coach, told the Sunday Guardian why he participated in the coup, and how it affected his life.
Asked to recount the taking over of Radio Trinidad, he said: “I don’t want to rehash people’s pain and trauma.” He said, however, that he had ten Muslimeen insurrectionists with him, and that two Radio Trinidad workers were injured. “We ensured that they got medical attention,” he noted, and continued: “On Saturday, I abandoned Radio Trinidad and took up residence at TTT. “I left a big note on the station’s door, stating that we had abandoned the building and there were only hostages on the compound.” Asked if the claims of involvement by politicians in the coup were true, Shabazz said: “It’s not in my place to try and tarnish anyone’s reputation, nor to take a serious matter and make a political scandal of it. July 27, 1990, is much too serious for me to do this.
“If we live to tell the story, and given the right opportunity, the nation needs to know the truth in a proper forum, like a national inquiry. “A lot of the disclosures about the Muslimeen and its connections must come from the leader. While I am getting weary of bearing the burdens of 1990, I will not break the protocol.” Asked to comment on Prime Minister Patrick Manning’s claims of an assassination plot against him by a certain organisation, Shabazz dismissed any notion of Jamaat involvement. “I think more people in the Jamaat are PNM than any other party.” He noted, however, that the Jamaat had allowed itself to be “used, abused and hoodwinked” by different political parties, even as recent as the last general election. “The Jamaat was approached by the Congress of the People, the United National Congress and the People’s National Movement, to do field work for them. “We worked with all three parties, and I dare all of them to come out and deny it,” Shabazz challenged.
Prison, persecution
Shabazz said he had faced “tremendous challenges” in his career as a football coach and community worker, because of his involvement in the coup bid. “There were people lobbying in high places against me working at a national team level.” (He is a former T&T and Guyana national football coach, and now assistant director of women’s football here.) “I had visa and travel restraints to the US, which has been partially lifted. I can now travel under specific conditions,” he said. He recalled spending 53 days in the Miami Detention Centre, after he was arrested at that country’s airport. “I had gone abroad to do a coaching course, but was charged for having a travel document I was not supposed to have. “However, God has given me the strength to rise above these obstacles, and still contribute to T&T in the field of sports,” he said.
Still unanswered
Shabazz called for a serious analysis of everything surrounding the insurrection, when asked to comment on calls for a commission of enquiry into the event which has left unanswered questions to this day. “The media have not allowed the Jamaat the opportunity to speak freely and frankly on why people, who are supposed to be sane human beings, could suddenly erupt in such an aggressive manner,” he charged. Told that he was getting an opportunity to speak freely, he began: “There were several reasons that resulted in July 27,1990. “The primary one was constant government (National Alliance for Reconstruction) harassment of the Muslimeen by putting army and police posts on the compound, despite court rulings denouncing such state actions.”
Shabazz said another reason was the “political climate” in the country at the time. “The NAR’s draconian policies presented a situation where public servants, oil workers, nurses, were protesting on the streets. “There was massive retrenchment of workers, the implementation of Value Added Tax and the taking away of Cost of Living Allowance from workers.” Asked if there was a similar situation in the country today, he replied: “It’s worse.” A third reason for the coup attempt was the persecution of the Jamaat. “Information had reached the Imam of an impending military strike on the Muslimeen to decimate the leadership. “When the politician ignores the court and uses the might of the military, then the matter becomes a military one. “Therefore, much to my regret today, these things prompted the reactions of the Muslimeen.”
Full of idealism
Shabazz, great nephew of the late economist, Lloyd Best, spent a part of his childhood in Tacarigua. “Lloyd had a deep influence on my thinking, socially,” he said. When he was 11, Shabazz’ mom took the family to Morvant. “I became so much a part of the area that Laventille is in my blood. I feel the pain of the political neglect of the people, despite their loyalty to the PNM.” By age 27, he was full of idealism, he said. “After the era of the 1970 Black Power Revolution and the the National Union of Freedom Fighters (NUFF guerrillas), I started reading writers like Malcolm X and Marcus Garvey. “I felt a great commitment to bring about social change in my country.” The commitment remains. But a coup to change things? “Personally, when I look back, I think our action could have been avoided. If similar conditions were presented, I would use my new-found mediation skills and patience to avoid rash actions.”
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Coach or no coach, he shoulda get lock up just like the rest of them miscreants, even if he had to break smaller rock dan dat 4kr bakr in golden grove.
Whether he had a change of heart in the middle of the ting is irrelevant...to this day nobody eh pay for all the trauma dem fellahs cause people and the country.
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Ole dutty criminals , all ah dem. They should have been at least imprisoned for life in not executed for high treason.
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Coach or no coach, he shoulda get lock up just like the rest of them miscreants, even if he had to break smaller rock dan dat 4kr bakr in golden grove.
Whether he had a change of heart in the middle of the ting is irrelevant...to this day nobody eh pay for all the trauma dem fellahs cause people and the country.
And STILL causin and wil cause for generations to come.
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Ole dutty criminals , all ah dem. They should have been at least imprisoned for life in not executed for high treason.
ok, but what about the people who looted and burnt down the buildings? what should happen to them?
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Ole dutty criminals , all ah dem. They should have been at least imprisoned for life in not executed for high treason.
One man's "ole dutty criminal" is a next man "freedom fighter" which is why we leave it to the courts to decide
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Ole dutty criminals , all ah dem. They should have been at least imprisoned for life in not executed for high treason.
One man's "ole dutty criminal" is a next man "freedom fighter" which is why we leave it to the courts to decide
I wouldn't have it any other way.
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Ole dutty criminals , all ah dem. They should have been at least imprisoned for life in not executed for high treason.
ok, but what about the people who looted and burnt down the buildings? what should happen to them?
Prosecute all law breakers.
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Ole dutty criminals , all ah dem. They should have been at least imprisoned for life in not executed for high treason.
ok, but what about the people who looted and burnt down the buildings? what should happen to them?
Prosecute all law breakers.
I cool with that.
However, wasnt the muslimeen given a pardon which was upheld in the court of law? So whilst we vex that Abu and the lot show disregard for the law, we doing the same thing.
What i want to see is all the men who was behind the scenes (who ever they are) that weren't given pardons brought to justice be it which ever 'prominent' people today.
Question - was the majority of damage done to the country carried out by the muslimeen or by the people themselves?
Were the majority of people outraged, or were they in support or even happy/excited at the time?
Allyuh ever went (or know of people who did )any get togethers and real lime and ketch real kicks/ knock cards/ had a good time during the coup, and took the thing like a big holiday?
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The court should have put and maybe should still put a "Gag Order" on all them fellas especially where the press is concerned. That interview is still packed anti-government talk. He should not be coaching nationally at any level. And we wonder why we cyah organize a strong team. Slackness Culture
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Ole dutty criminals , all ah dem. They should have been at least imprisoned for life in not executed for high treason.
ok, but what about the people who looted and burnt down the buildings? what should happen to them?
Prosecute all law breakers.
I cool with that.
However, wasnt the muslimeen given a pardon which was upheld in the court of law? So whilst we vex that Abu and the lot show disregard for the law, we doing the same thing.
What i want to see is all the men who was behind the scenes (who ever they are) that weren't given pardons brought to justice be it which ever 'prominent' people today.
Question - was the majority of damage done to the country carried out by the muslimeen or by the people themselves?
Were the majority of people outraged, or were they in support or even happy/excited at the time?
Allyuh ever went (or know of people who did )any get togethers and real lime and ketch real kicks/ knock cards/ had a good time during the coup, and took the thing like a big holiday?
Apart from the damage done to property in the midst of the temporary power vacuum the real issue is 100+ goons tried to overrun a democratically elected government through violence. This is treason and it is a travesty of justice that those men and their enablers are free today. The corruption of the law is so perverse in their case it is ridiculous.
They are so called community leaders, but they have guns. It is remarkable how this is even up for debate. We are so corrupt it eh even funny.
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Whoa. Even the muslimeen asking for an inquiryn :o
It's ridiculous that we haven't had anything. What the history books supposed to say? Do we have a proper record ???
I don't know if our judicial process failed us or not with the pardon but one thing for sure is that we have had some very negative consequences as a result and still paying the price.
I wonder if Shabazz realise how lucky he is to have any freedom because sometimes when he talks about these hardships...ie. 53 days detention in the US...I wonder if he understands how small that is compared to what he should have been serving in jail given what they did. Still sounds like they feel some amount of justification for what they did even if he believes it could have been done better. Worrying message we have sent as a country on consequences to assaulting our democracy.
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In America somebody do something like this and they catch him, he dead for sure....
Shabaaz is a blasted taliban and de biggest taliban is de man who have these clowns walking around in de country. After killing so many people and doing so much wrong he want people to feel sorry for he...
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You can't really ask who did the most damage...you have to ask who orchestrated the damage...I have no sympathy for Shabazz...it's not like he was 19 or 20 he was a grown man capable of making independent decisions. He held a country at ransom. His actions facilitated millions of dollars worth of damage. He was indirectly responsible for people losing their lives. And now he wants a national inquiry? to do what??? validate his actions???
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lock him up. Trinidad have too much tolerance for lawlessness. 27 is a big man making wrong decision. If he was younger like 14 then he could get excused.
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You can't really ask who did the most damage...you have to ask who orchestrated the damage...I have no sympathy for Shabazz...it's not like he was 19 or 20 he was a grown man capable of making independent decisions. He held a country at ransom. His actions facilitated millions of dollars worth of damage. He was indirectly responsible for people losing their lives. And now he wants a national inquiry? to do what??? validate his actions???
One could draw that conclusion among several conclusions, but I suggest, on balance, his call for a national inquiry does not appear to be self-serving. He's calling for transparency ... which would invite analysis that's not necessarily favourable.
Based on the context of all of his comments in the article, and his understanding of the body of his experiences post-1990, it's difficult to conclude he's seeking validation. We should be careful not to conflate his expression/interpretation/rationalization of the status quo in the nation at that time with unmitigated validation or justification.
Indeed, if we seek to learn more about the events of 1990, we should encourage more of this sort of communication ... focusing on the communication, rather than being per se condemnatory of the actors. Recall, various Truth and Reconciliation Commissions, despite their several 'failings', achieve 'something' by expanding available knowledge, and removing some discourse from the realm of rumour to that of commonly-understood corroborated and reliable history. Try as we may, we cyah get that fuh free.
P.S. Ah find the preservation of this thread in this segment of the forum is tenuous at best. It is tangentially related to football. However, to state that is not to miss why Touches asked for a lil time on this side ...
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blah, blah, MOTHERC%^T-blah....like ah say before in odder thread, leh him haul he C*&T!!!!!!
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blah, blah, MOTHERC%^T-blah....like ah say before in odder thread, leh him haul he C*&T!!!!!!
And after that, what? You doh have an interest in knowing more about the events?
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Whoa. Even the muslimeen asking for an inquiryn :o
It's ridiculous that we haven't had anything. What the history books supposed to say? Do we have a proper record ???
I don't know if our judicial process failed us or not with the pardon but one thing for sure is that we have had some very negative consequences as a result and still paying the price.
I wonder if Shabazz realise how lucky he is to have any freedom because sometimes when he talks about these hardships...ie. 53 days detention in the US...I wonder if he understands how small that is compared to what he should have been serving in jail given what they did. Still sounds like they feel some amount of justification for what they did even if he believes it could have been done better. Worrying message we have sent as a country on consequences to assaulting our democracy.
Shabazz is ... seems to be in his personal capacity, rather than as a spokesperson for 'anyone else'. But yeah, one wonders.
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Here's an idea ... make the 'national inquiry' an election issue ... guaranteed to press some buttons.
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blah, blah, MOTHERC%^T-blah....like ah say before in odder thread, leh him haul he C*&T!!!!!!
And after that, what? You doh have an interest in knowing more about the events?
respectfully eh, i know all i need to know bout the events breds, i also personally know BANDITS (!!!!!) who was part of dat group of C%^TS....oh, and ah did also personally know Solomon McCleod...
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161509837
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Yeah Fyzo, no doubt. On a personal level we all have a stake or a story or some kinda personal significance in the mix ... buh should we sacrifice the collective fuh the personal? Look, I think it's a Class A mud-up. Fuh me dis larger than Shabazz.
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I remember when it happened, I was with some East Germans players and we was watching CNN. When they were placing the muslimeen prisoners on the bus. One of the East Germans turn to me and said "if it was East Germany as the bus takeoff it would of been boom, Sorry!"
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LOUDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
STEUPSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
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What does a national inquiry do? does a national inquiry relieve the Muslimeen of their actions? does a national inquiry if one is to believe Shabazz inferences now cast then opposition party members into some sort of shadowy light? Or does a national inquiry stir up a cauldron of blame, ill-will and anger. Shabazz got away with treason in any other country he'd just be a distant memory.
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What does a national inquiry do?
WASTE OF TAXDOLLARS. We just give way 150000 4 a friendly dat neva happen.
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f#ck zamora
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f#ck zamora
Why am I not surprised?! ::)
Does this mean that we have the same feelings for Shabazz as we do for Zamora? 8)
On seconds thoughts no need to answer! ;D
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Leh he HAUL HE MUDDER NECK!!
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Bakr's properties up for sale today
By Joel Julien (Express)
THE STATE is scheduled to place 11 properties belonging to Jamaat-al-Muslimeen leader Imam Yasin Abu Bakr and his second-in-command Kala Aki Bua on the auction block today.
Abu Bakr led a group of 114 insurrectionists in an attempted coup on July 27, 1990.
Today's auction is expected to take place in an effort for the State to recover a $32 million debt which resulted from the destruction of the Police Headquarters during the 1990 attempted coup.
Properties owned by Abu Bakr and Aki Bua are scheduled to be put up for sale by way of a public auction at City Hall in Port of Spain at 10 a.m. today.
The registration of bidders starts at 8.30 a.m.
The auction comes after a ruling by Justice Rajendra Narine on September 11 last year.
William Soon of Peter Soon and Company is the auctioneer.
Abu Bakr has described the Government's move to auction the properties as an attempt to destroy the Jamaat-al-Mislimeen.
It is "unlawful and illegal", he said.
Abu Bakr said he was leaving the entire situation in God's hands and "honestly believed" the properties will not be sold.
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Ah wonder who going to buy first :angel:
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Ah wonder who going to buy first :angel:
I wonderin d same damn ting, I feel go ha to be real "ballsy" person or people wit bad man rep dey self, but dis may not end good atall :( :'(
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The government of Trinidad and Tobago should put in the first bid.
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Ah wonder who going to buy first :angel:
I wonderin d same damn ting, I feel go ha to be real "ballsy" person or people wit bad man rep dey self, but dis may not end good atall :( :'(
Oh Bakr buy it back at a fraction of the cost LOL
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An I95.5fm news report says Bakr got back two of the properties, the Queen's Park East one and the Dibe (spelling??) one. His son and wife bought them.
Of the 10 properties, the one at La Puerta in Diego was not sold.
The sale did not raise anything near the amount needed to settle the government's debt of $40M. The auctioneer said that perhaps if the turn out was better more money may have been raised.....
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I heard that Bakr received cash from Libya to buy back the properties.
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I heard that Bakr received cash from Libya to buy back the properties.
Steupss He didn't even need that...Man pay only about a million for the property at Queens Park...!!!
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It seems as doh buyers doh want to mess with Bakr buildings i would not be supprise if it stay on the gov hands.
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Bakr family buys back two prime properties
Gail Alexander (Guardian).
Relatives of Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr were successful in regaining—through purchase—two prime properties out of eight belonging to the group which the State auctioned off yesterday.
The auction came less than a month after the People’s Partnership Government announced that the State would sell off properties belonging to the Jamaat to recoup costs pertaining to damages and loss of state property, resulting from the July 27, 1990, coup attempt by the group.
Auctioneer Peter Soon, who supervised yesterday’s proceedings, noted the 2009 court order for sale of the properties to recoup damages. Soon said interest in the issue of damages had accrued to $4.7 million between 1990 and 2000, and continued to accrue at the rate of $6,480 daily.
Accrued interest and damages to date total $42.3 million, Soon noted. Supervising the matter and representing the State’s interest yesterday was attorney Dana Seetahal, SC, and a legal team. On the auction block were ten properties, nine belonging to Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr and one at Las Cuevas, belonging to Muslimeen member Kala Aki Bua.
However, one property—at Woodbine Street and Upper Bournes Road in St James—was taken off the table since its title was in dispute, according to Soon. And another property at La Puerta, Diego Martin, failed to attract any bidders. At the end of yesterday’s four-hour auction, officials connected with procedings confirmed that the State obtained more than $6 million from the eight prime properties auctioned. Successful bids on properties ranged from a minimum of $72,000 to a maximum of $1.6 million.
The 50-plus gathering at City Hall, Port-of- Spain, where yesterday’s auction took place, was dominated by the presence of Muslimeen leader Bakr, who arrived at 9.30 am. Arriving at various points subsequently were Bakr’s sons Fuad and Ayinde, as well as Bakr’s wife, Indrani Maharaj-Abu Bakr. Other supporters included Mrs Janice Aki Bua, wife of Kala Aki Bua, former owner of one of the Jamaat properties at Las Cuevas. The Muslimeen group also included seven young men in khaki uniform and army boots.
One member of that group videotaped proceedings at the start of the auction. City Hall security was tight, with armed guards and electronic frisking of attendees. Bidding got off to a slow start, with low response from the audience. Auctioneer Soon had a tough job wheedling bids out of the City Hall audience.
But the first property off the auction block was land at Mayaro, which was purchased by 61-year-old Tacarigua businessman S Balkaran, who also purchased the Las Cuevas property. Next to go was a Marabella property, which was purchased by attorney Anthony Cherry, who said he was instructed by a client to bid on the property. This went for $1.6 million, the highest price in yesterday’s auction.
Cherry told the Guardian his client had been prepared to go as high as necessary, because of the location of that particular property. He declined to identify the client. However, the Guardian was reliably informed last night the client which obtained that property was HJ Stauble and Co Ltd.
After the first round of bidding, Bakr left at 11.10 am. But bidding was carried on by other members of his family. Ayinde Abu Bakr, son of the Muslimeen leader, succesfully bid $1.1 million for the family’s property at 10 Queen’s Park East, Port-of-Spain. Indrani Maharaj-Abu Bakr also successfully bid $1.3 million for a six-apartment property at Dibe, Long Circular.
A businessman who gave his name as Nagessar bought the other properties at Indian Trail, Couva. After the auction, Fuad Abu Bakr, another of Bakr’s sons, told the Guardian the family “had gotten back two of its properties of a sorts....”
Maharaj-Abu Bakr, who bought the Dibe property, said her purchase meant that she had regained the roof which had been over her head. Maharaj-Abu Bakr, who had been resident at the Dibe property, said the court judgment mandating the sale had not taken into account matrimonial rights and whoever had been resident in the property would have been affected by the sale as she might have been.
Soon, preceding the auction, had confirmed matrimonial rights did not enter into the issue of sale. After the proceedings, Soon said he would have liked a better turnout for yesterday’s auction. He could not say whether Bakr’s presence had affected attendance. Soon said there was no conflict of interest in members of the Bakr family bidding for the properties. He said the auction was open and there was nothing to disbar them from bidding.
“They were well within their rights to bid,” Soon added. He said he could not determine whether yesterday’s sale would have dealt adequately with the current levels of damages at issue in the matter. Attorney General Anand Ramlogan said yesterday that he would be getting a report from Seetahal, who would advise the State on what its options were in the issue.
He could not say what would transpire with the La Puerta property, which was not sold. Asked his views on the bidding by the Bakr family, Ramlogan said: “It was an open auction and they were entitled to bid like anyone else.”
SOLD FOR...!
• Land at La Brea village, Mayaro, including sea frontage and trace access, purchased by S Balkaran—$72,000.
• Property at Marabella, purchased by attorney Anthony Cherry on behalf of HJ Stauble and Co Ltd—$1.6 million.
• 10 Queen’s Park East, Port-of-Spain, purchased by Ayinde Abu Bakr, son of Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr—$1.1 million.
• Six-apartment property at Dibe, Long Circular, purchased by Indrani Maharaj-Abu Bakr—$1.3 million.
• Las Cuevas property known as “Zorro,” including house, swimming pool, river access and beach frontage, purchased by businessman S Balkaran—$380,000.
• Land at Boodoo Trace Indian Trail, Couva, purchased by retired businessman, Nagessar—$310,000.
• Three lots of Land at Indian Trail purchased by retired businessman, Nagessar—$450,000
BAKR AUCTION FLOPS
State raises just $5.2m of $42.4m target
By Joel Julien (T&T Express).
THE FAMILY of Jamaat-al-Muslimeen leader Imam Yasin Abu Bakr was able to buy back two of ten properties which the State had seized and publicly auctioned yesterday.
Indrani Maharaj-Abu Bakr, one of the Imam's four wives, and his son, Ayinde, successfully bid on two properties which were on the auction block yesterday.
Auctioneer Peter Soon supervised the auction, which was held inside the auditorium at City Hall, Port of Spain.
Soon said there was no difficulty with Abu Bakr's family repurchasing the properties, since according to the terms of the sale "parties are at liberty to bid".
"If Mr Bakr himself wanted to bid on a property we would have accepted his bid. So if it is okay for him then it must be okay for his family," Soon said after the auction.
Ten properties, owned by Abu Bakr and his second-in-command Kala Aki Bua, were auctioned yesterday, as the State attempted to recover a $42.3 million debt (including interest) incurred from the destruction of the Police Headquarters during the 1990 attempted coup.
The State raised $5,212,000 at yesterday's auction. The auction came as a result of a ruling by Justice Rajendra Narine on September 11 last year.
It is now up to the State to determine how to recover the $37 million shortfall, Soon said. The total price of the two properties purchased by the Imam's wife and son was $2.4 million.
"We anticipated a better turnout. I believe if there were more people present the competition would have pushed the prices higher," Soon said of the procedure.
Uniformed police officers were stationed at the entrance of City Hall and inside the auditorium.
There were 62 registered bidders at yesterday's auction, according to registration forms.
Abu Bakr and a group of Jamaat members, dressed in khaki uniforms and black kippahs, formed part of the audience at yesterday's auction. Abu Bakr left the auction around 11 a.m.
Soon began the auction proceedings by listing the rules and terms of sale for the properties.
"The properties are being sold 'as is and where is'. So I give no warranty as to title. You buy at your own risk," Soon told prospective bidders.
At the end of yesterday's auction only a house and property at La Puerta, Diego Martin, was left unsold. It was being offered for $1.1 million.
Abu Bakr's son Fuad made a $100,000 bid for the property. It was refused by Soon.
The ten properties which were sold yesterday were bought by five bidders.
The most expensive property to be sold yesterday was a property at Maharaj Lands in Marabella.
Anthony Cherry, a former board member of the Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (UDeCOTT), purchased the Marabella property for $1.6 million.
Maharaj-Abu Bakr purchased the land at Dibe Road, Long Circular, along with a building housing six apartments located on the property for $1.3 million.
Ayinde Abu Bakr bought an undivided half-share of property and building at #10 Park Avenue Queen's Park East, Port of Spain, for $1.1 million.
A man named Narine, who refused to give his first name, bought two properties at yesterday's auction. These included a parcel of land at Lot 5 in Guayaguayare, Mayaro, for $72,000, in addition to land and a house at "Zorro" Las Cuevas for $380,000.
A man named Nagassar, who also refused to give his first name, bought four parcels of land at Rivulet Road, Indian Trail, Couva, for a total of $760,000.
Successful bidders were required to make a ten per cent deposit of their bid yesterday. The balance is expected to be paid in 30 days.
The auction lasted just under four hours and ended at 1.48 p.m.
Abu Bakr remained mum when contacted by the Express yesterday for comment on the auction.
"No comment," Abu Bakr said.
Contacted an hour after the auction, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan, who ordered the auction on the State's behalf, said he was not in a position to comment on the proceedings, as he was not present. He said, however, that he had staff at the event who were to present a report to him. He said then that he would be in a position to comment after reading the report, but attempts to reach him last evening were unsuccessful as calls to his cell phone went unanswered and he did not return calls or text messages sent to him.
(http://media.trinidadexpress.com/images/1282106848187n26.jpg)
BACK TO BAKRS: The property at Dibe Road, Long Circular, which was repurchased by Yasin Abu Bakr's family. —Photo: STEPHEN DOOBAY
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The place up in la puerta is damn nice house................buut ah could see why nobody go bid a penny fuh it
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All I can say is wow.
No Reserve price? This is a farce of the highest order.
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As I said, which person have the balls to buy Bakr property?? And I would think that he had he ppl buy the property back.
Trini is real kicks yes :beermug:
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was this ever about recouping money or was it to show the people that "we" (PP) will not be bullied or be scared by that terrorist... and to show said terrorist that enough is enough... find some other school yard chum to bully.
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was this ever about recouping money or was it to show the people that "we" (PP) will not be bullied or be scared by that terrorist... and to show said terrorist that enough is enough... find some other school yard chum to bully.
How they telling de bully anything doh by letting him keep dey lunch money?
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was this ever about recouping money or was it to show the people that "we" (PP) will not be bullied or be scared by that terrorist... and to show said terrorist that enough is enough... find some other school yard chum to bully.
How they telling de bully anything doh by letting him keep dey lunch money?
it seems that the previous 2 regimes were afraid of this bully by their inaction and blatant partnering with him. His property went on the block is one step in showing him that he's not above the law as he was fooled into believing, with his fear tactics.
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[/quote]
it seems that the previous 2 regimes were afraid of this bully by their inaction and blatant partnering with him. His property went on the block is one step in showing him that he's not above the law as he was fooled into believing, with his fear tactics.
[/quote]
Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't it the last administration that made it possible for his properties to be auctioned off...If I do remember correctly it was the former attorney General John Jeremie who got the ball moving with regards to this issue..PP just happen to be at the right place at the right time..!!
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it seems that the previous 2 regimes were afraid of this bully by their inaction and blatant partnering with him. His property went on the block is one step in showing him that he's not above the law as he was fooled into believing, with his fear tactics.
Yet they let him show up at the auction wid he toy soldiers in tow grandstanding... yuh feel dat wasn't part ah he "fear tactics" as well? Jokey government... and me eh even talking about de politics, left hand have no idea what right hand doing.
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Yet they let him show up at the auction wid he toy soldiers in tow grandstanding... yuh feel dat wasn't part ah he "fear tactics" as well?
fully agree. but if this is a public auction, is it possible to block people from entry or bidding? Also makes me wonder if Kamla out of town due to fear that something may have risen out of this :thinking:
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Yet they let him show up at the auction wid he toy soldiers in tow grandstanding... yuh feel dat wasn't part ah he "fear tactics" as well?
fully agree. but if this is a public auction, is it possible to block people from entry or bidding? Also makes me wonder if Kamla out of town due to fear that something may have risen out of this :thinking:
They coulde absolutely bar them... "public auction" simply means it's open to the public, it doesn't mean it's a free for all. Parliament open to the public too (you supposed to be able to siddung in the gallery and take een de happenings)... but feel you could run up in dey in khaki uniform and army boots? If yuh presence is a distraction/disruption they can and will ask you to leave.
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dem have money to buy back property? All dey money should ah be seized long time too! If they responsible, properties and cash shoulda get huff
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I have a few questions. Can somebody please enlighten me...
1. What legitimate business does Mr Bakr and family run to afford such properties in the first place?
2. And if said properties were sold to recoup losses due to the coup, what mechanisms are in place to recover the shortfall? I mean...ah see a property sell for $72,000. That eh no where near what is owed.
3. And why has the government not taken an Uncle Sam approach....if nothing else cyar stick.....hold him for taxes.
In essence this auction ended up being a way for Abu Bakr to legally transfer those assets to his family (where I assume they cannot be touched in future proceedings)
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I have a few questions. Can somebody please enlighten me...
1. What legitimate business does Mr Bakr and family run to afford such properties in the first place?
2. And if said properties were sold to recoup losses due to the coup, what mechanisms are in place to recover the shortfall? I mean...ah see a property sell for $72,000. That eh no where near what is owed.
3. And why has the government not taken an Uncle Sam approach....if nothing else cyar stick.....hold him for taxes.
In essence this auction ended up being a way for Abu Bakr to legally transfer those assets to his family (where I assume they cannot be touched in future proceedings)
Bakr remains responsible for the shortfall... not sure what options are at the government's disposal to recoup the difference. I would think that asset forfeiture would not be an option a second time around.
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Warner: Bakr begged me to talk to AG
McDonald knocks Govt for robbery over 'charade' auction.
T&T Express Reports.
Three weeks ago, leader of the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen Yasin Abu Bakr met with Works and Transport Minister Jack Warner and pleaded with him to talk to Attorney General Anand Ramlogan, on his behalf, over the sale of his (Bakr's) properties.
Warner yesterday confirmed he met with Bakr at the Ministry of Works and Transport's head office in Port of Spain.
"He had requested to meet with me on five occasions," Warner said.
"I met with him three weeks ago, and he asked me to talk to the AG. I told him immediately, 'No, I cannot do that.'"
Warner was speaking at the ministry's office after a news conference where he announced he will send a written request to the AG for a forensic audit into the Licensing Office.
Bakr's plea to Warner came before ten properties belonging to himself and his second in command, Kala Ahi Bua, were auctioned off at City Hall, Port of Spain, on Tuesday.
The properties were sold after a ruling by Justice Rajendra Narine last year, which gave the State the green light to go after Bakr and his men and reclaim some $42.3 million for the destruction of the police headquarters during the 1990 attempted coup.
Although $5.2 million was recovered from the auction and Bakr's family was able to buy back two of his properties, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar assured the remaining money will be recovered.
She had stated she was satisfied with the auction and revealed it was conducted under a cloud of threats and intimidation.
Yesterday, however, chief whip of the People's National Movement (PNM) Marlene McDonald, described the auction as a "charade" and lambasted the People's Partnership Government for robbing the people of this country.
"The People's National Movement considers the recently concluded auction and sale of properties to have been negligently executed in defraud of the interests of the people of Trinidad and Tobago," McDonald said in a release.
She stressed it was the PNM government who took steps to obtain permission from the courts to move against these properties, in order to have the Jamaat compensate the people of this country for the events of 1990.
"After years of hard-fought litigation, it was to be expected that the present Government would also have proceeded with care to obtain the best price for the properties by placing, at minimum, an upset price at the auction of the properties. Further, the State ought, at minimum, to have proceeded against the cash assets of the Jamaat to prevent the devaluation of the total assets, which were available to satisfy the debt owed to the State," she said.
"The People's National Movement condemns the failure of the State to take these minimum steps to ensure that the orders of the Court, obtained by the previous government, were lawfully and efficiently carried out."
She said "the PNM calls for the immediate inclusion in the terms of reference of the Simmons enquiry of an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the suspicious sale of the properties owned by Yasin Abu Bakr and the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen at auction".
McDonald was referring to the commission of enquiry into the 1990 attempted coup, commissioned by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, which is to be headed by Dr David Simmons, retired chief justice of Barbados.
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Why would Jack even give Bakr an audience? As a government minister, Warner should not even be entertaining a meeting with Bakr (who BTW committed an act of treason against the Republic of T&T).
A smart politician would even announce to the media that, "Mr Bakr tried to meet with me and I refused on the basis of principle. I told him to let justice take it's course"
.....unless Jack have cocoa in the sun too :thinking:
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Bakr freed of conspiracy to murder charge
http://www.youtube.com/v/hU8EfPjm98I
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steeeeeups!!!
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steeeeeups!!!
Hello, I glad. Commission of enquiry coming up. I want him dey to say what he know. Or to see if he was grand charging all this time.... :devil: ;D
On a serious note though, how the police come to conclusion that they had enough to charge him in the first place?? :thinking: :thinking: Dem does just aide in giving this man unnecessary press..... ::)
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tc what offer yuh putting in? ;D
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tc what offer yuh putting in? ;D
destroy ALL places of worship in T&T....de place already godless, heartless and merciless
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Crying Jamaat member admits: It was a heinous act
By: Yvonne Baboolal
Jamaal Shabazz, one of the 114 insurrectionists in the 1990 coup attempt, broke down in tears yesterday before the commission of enquiry, indicating that poverty was one of the causes of the uprising.
On July 27, 1990, Shabazz led a group of Muslimeen members in a takeover of Trinidad Broadcasting Corporation on Maraval Road, Port-of-Spain, while other Jamaat leaders seized Trinidad and Tobago Television and the Red House. Beginning with the Biblical record of Jesus sharing five loaves of bread and two fishes among 5,000 people, Shabazz sought to explain his feeling in 1990 that the haves did not share with the have nots. “I feel that whatever little is in the Treasury must filter down to Laventille and Caroni...Every day I in Morvant and Laventille,” he said.
“If Selby could cry, I could cry too!” he added in an angry, emotional outburst. Former finance minister in the NAR administration, Selby Wilson, cried before the commission last week while recounting the assault on himself and other hostages in the Red House. Shabazz, the first of the insurgents to appear before the commission, said in 1990 he didn’t see the “one love” that marked the NAR’s 1986 general election campaign.
“I see in history where in crisis real leaders come down and walk with the people,” he said. “Every day we cook and feed people (at the Jamaat). No matter how much you cook...On a daily basis our lives are cut short dealing with these social issues.” A football coach and former journalist, Shabazz admitted, however, that the coup attempt was a “heinous” act. “May God never have us and our children to do this again...I submit that 1990 was extreme behaviour on our part and could be labelled as fundamentalist,” he said.
He said if there was one thing he wanted from the inquiry was for the children of the insurgents to be at peace with the children of the coup victims. “If those who were wronged in 1990 don’t forgive us, I wouldn’t hold it against them. “But let our grandchildren live in peace without that burden,” Shabazz pleaded. He pointed out, too, that, there would be no amnesty with today’s youth, meaning that there would be no negotiating with them. He denied evidence of earlier witnesses who all said they felt the Jamaat did not have the support of the masses when they staged the uprising. He said, on the contrary, the fact that the NAR government was voted out lock, stock and barrel in the 1991 general election was proof of mass support.
He claimed that as discredited as the Jamaat was today, it could still bring out 10,000 people to a protest.
Questioned by the commission’s lead counsel, Avory Sinanan, SC, about Jamaat leader, Yasin Abu Bakr’s properties, Shabazz said it is expected that the African man has nothing and stay with nothing but nobody questions the wealth of Ish Galbaransingh or the Sabgas. Even Attorney General Anand Ramlogan scoffed at the idea of Bakr owning properties and the general sentiment was “what is Bakr doing with all that,” he said.
Noting that “the Imam has nice cars,” Shabazz asked: “Who is to say that the Imam doesn’t have a car dealership with some senior politician? “Why must Pastor Cuffie (alone) have a nice car?” he said.
Shabazz further disputed allegations by earlier witnesses that the Jamaat took advantage of poor, dispossessed youth, saying there were teachers, university graduates and businessmen among the insurgents.
“They want to say that the Muslimeen just used some poor, hungry youths to dismiss 1990 as some terrorist act by some mad people. “That’s not how it went down,” he said. Seeking to show the idealism that guided his thinking in 1990, Shabazz said as an admirer of Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, he was attracted to the Jamaat’s teachings.
He said the Jamaat taught to do what was right and also see to stop the wrong. He said he protested with the group against South African apartheid. Shabazz denied, however, that he was a blind follower of Bakr who, he felt, tried to wake up Afro-Trinidadians who were going nowhere. “I felt it (the coup) was the only course of action...I deserved what was coming to me.”
The 1990 Coup Enquiry
Shabazz: All parties used the Muslimeen
By: Yvonne Baboolal
Baring all before the commission of enquiry into the attempted coup yesterday, 1990 insurgent Jamaal Shabazz told of the secret political love affair between the Jamaat and all of T&T’s major political parties.
The Jamaat al Muslimeen were even part and parcel of the National Alliance for Reconstruction’s (NAR) 1986 “One Love” campaign and the consequent removal of the PNM. It was the same NAR that the Jamaat sought to later overthrow in 1990. Shabazz stated several times that he “will get in trouble with the Muslimeen” or the “Imam will get vex” over his disclosures and asked for many things to be told privately to the commission.
Telling of the Muslimeen’s affiliation with the NAR in 1986, he said: “We lost confidence in the PNM over the land issue...We felt the PNM had done nothing for African people.”
He said the Jamaat held public meetings all over T&T, exposing the deficiencies of the PNM. He said in some cases members of the Jamaat held positions in political parties, like Khalil Saif, who was a part of Club 88, the dissident UNC faction that broke away from the NAR in 1988. Saif would be “very angry” over this disclosure, Shabazz told the commission. Challenging the Congress of the People, who “likes to have an attitude,” to “come and dispute this,” Shabazz said the Jamaat worked with the party in the 2007 general election. “The Muslimeen worked with all the parties in the 2007 elections until it was a joke,” he said.
Unofficial approaches were made by political leaders to Bakr who informed members if they were “going down” with the PNM or the UNC, Shabazz said.
He recalled that the PNM offered the Jamaat money to help them campaign in an election but senior members volunteered to work free for the party to help remove the incumbent UNC government. Shabazz described these approaches as “vague arrangements” which he said he always criticised because they were never put in writing. Further, the Jamaat, which was also affiliated with trade union leaders and community leaders from Morvant, Laventille and Diego Martin, was hired by other groups and hit squads as security, he said.
He said some “brothers,” discontented with the political situation and looking for employment, worked with the parties without the knowledge of Jamaat leader, Yasin Abu Bakr. Shabazz claimed that Jamaat members were not paid personally but from conversations with senior people, they were given the assurance that their land issue would be settled and they would be allowed to play a part in society. He said they worked as security and handed out fliers and “persuaded” people to vote for whichever party.He said before the 1990 uprising, the Jamaat was funded by the World Islamic Society, which was funded by Libya, and was local Muslims.
(http://www.guardian.co.tt/sites/default/files/event/Muhammed%20Shabazz%20-%20Kala.png?1304570700)
Jamaal Shabazz, left, chats with fellow member of the Jamaat al Muslimeen Kala Akaii Bua shortly before the start of yesterday’s commission of inquiry into the July 1990 coup attempt. Photo: Karla Ramoo
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“I feel that whatever little is in the Treasury must filter down to Laventille and Caroni...Every day I in Morvant and Laventille,” he said.
Now it just filtering to you through Jack
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“I feel that whatever little is in the Treasury must filter down to Laventille and Caroni...Every day I in Morvant and Laventille,” he said.
Now it just filtering to you through Jack
:beermug:
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trinis is really ah set jokers and doh care damn,here we have ah set ah wannabe terrorist,rough up de cabinet,body count ah de dead eh sure,nobody eh know much tv and stove people tief.them walkin free,bakr still out,and de jackass gov't give them money.bakr woulda be dead if i had meh way.fight fire with more fire.
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agreed, I all for contrition an ting but all dem fellahs shoulda be crackin some rock in golden grove before testifyin anywhere
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As much as I didn't like the NAR gov't you cannot hold the PM or gov't officials at gunpoint and then negotiate an amnesty for your actions. Treason is flippin treason.....Their actions were responsible for deaths of innocent civilians
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Jamaat member claims: NAR cover-up in drug find at Piarco.
By: Yvonne Baboolal (Guardian).
The alleged murder of Woman Police Constable Bernadette James after she saw former National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) national security ministers Selwyn Richardson and Herbert Atwell in a room at Piarco Airport with cocaine on a table was a major cause of the 1990 attempted overthow of the Government by Jamaat al Muslimeen insurgents.
This was revealed by senior Jamaat member Jamaal Shabazz as he gave evidence before the commission of enquiry into the coup d’etat, at the Caribbean Court of Justice in Port-of-Spain yesterday. Shabazz, who led the takeover of Radio Trinidad, was one of the 114 insurrectionists who were charged for the uprising. Further, the NAR’s alleged indifference to the thriving drug trade and subsequent attacks on the Jamaat because of its anti-drug campaign were other reasons that led to the attempted coup, Shabazz told the commission.
He said in August 1987, WPC James visited the Jamaat and told senior members that she saw Richardson, Atwell and Major Thompson in a room at the airport with the cocaine. In his witness statement, Shabazz said Richardson had something on his finger which he tasted and said: “This is the real thing but we have to put a lid on this.
If we allow them to be charged, it will be a big scandal and a lot of big people would be affected. “James said she was chastised for entering the room and ordered to leave. “Her opinion was that a large quantity of cocaine was intercepted by the police and it belonged to an influential family and moves were afoot to cover it up,” Shabazz said.
He said James said she was confused and feared for her life. In October 1987, James was summoned to do a MOPS (police) operation in Tucker Valley where she was reportedly accidentally shot and killed in a training exercise. Shabazz said the Jamaat immediately called a meeting to discuss the matter. “We felt she was murdered,” he said. The Jamaat made a decision to help stamp out the cocaine trade by going after pushers on the blocks, Shabazz said. “It was causing destruction in the land,” he added.
He said police officers with whom Imam Yasin Abu Bakr spoke about it, said “this thing is bigger than us” and were unable to help. “We focused on the East-West Corridor and took a very militant stance,” Shabazz said. “We seized pushers’ drugs and took it to Trinidad & Tobago Television to destroy it in front of the media. “When we identified a pusher, we would make a raid and bring them in. “We threatened them and warned them to stop within three days or there would be more serious consequences.”
Shabazz said they used heavy intimidation and succeeded in getting most of the pushers they targeted to stop the illegal trade. “Aggressive hostile persons would get some licks,” he said. Shabazz said with the exception of Tooks and Bulls and the King brothers, who retaliated with a war on the Muslimeen, they managed to subdue the drug trade on the East-West Corridor. Questioned by lead counsel Avory Sinanan, Shabazz denied that the Jamaat was taking the cocaine and selling it. He admitted that rogue elements in the organisation raided blocks on their own for their own benefit and claimed the Jamaat also had to deal with them.
He said sometime after their war on the cocaine trade, the police began arresting Jamaat members on trumped-up charges. “They instructed the police to come down on us like a steam roller,” Shabazz said. “All our methods to stamp out the drug trade were met with harsh retaliation by the NAR.
“They destroyed a bakery we had in an abandoned DEWD building in Laventille saying we were trespassing. “We had information from national security that the army and the police would come to the compound and an accident would take place and we would be killed. “The NAR tolerated the drug trade...The drug situation definitely led to the attempted coup,” Shabazz said.
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Yuh ever notice how Shabazz does wear dat old TTFF tracksuit everywhere like a badge of honour.
Yuh get dat since 2005 breds...ease up on it nah.
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trinis is really ah set jokers and doh care damn,here we have ah set ah wannabe terrorist,rough up de cabinet,body count ah de dead eh sure,nobody eh know much Tb and stove people tief.them walkin free,bakr still out,and de jackass gov't give them money.bakr woulda be dead if i had meh way.fight fire with more fire.
Capo, i doh know yuh fardder and this response is in no wise meant in hostility, but i have to grossly disagree with you.
i could say right now unequivocally that if i never left trinidad i would've been part of that coop! now i don't know how old you are, but back then i would've been 25 yrs old and i remember @ that point in time in T&T there was "ABSOLUTELY" no fackin opportunities for young ppl coming out high school in those days! especially the lest fortunate.
i remember just before i decided to leave T&T all the good fellas in the EDR area was applying for anything including street sweeping jobs, but there was not even a wok tuh pick up dog sh!t in the streets that's how hopeless the situation became.
we applied to the police service, fire services, estate police, amry, coast guard, just to name ah few, and even though we all past the entrance exams, very few of us (two or three us from hundreds) were considered.
i remember when i returned home in 1990 around carnival time, most of them good fellas who i grew up with was sellin balls (crack) just to get by, that's how hopeless it was. remember these were the same fellas who couldv'e been police officers, firefighters or soldiers, as ah matter of fact, i have ah friend right now who is in the coast guard that used to rob businesses (back then fellas didn't rob ppl in the streets) and now he's ah productive member of society.
i would always say and continue to say that poverty and lack of opportunity leads to crime and corruption! T&T was always a society predicated upon nepotism, if yuh farrder or uncle is ah police then you in like flynn, and the same goes for all the other government services.
the neo colonialist saw to it that the lest fortunate were fed on scraps, not even crumbs but mere dust from the crumbs. i listen to some of the experience from the colonial era from my parents and grand parents time, and i have to say, how did those ppl even survived!
most of the lest fortunate (no income poor ppl ) were maids and watchmen, or doing the odd construction job here and there, some of them would've drove ah taxi for a cab company here and there, but it was ah hard time.
there were black ppl who was doing well and were extremely educated like the ellis clarks, david cuaminas and the ulric crosses, but they were few and far between, most black and spanish ppl lived in abject poverty during the colonial era.
back in the late eighties and nineties it was even worst, we were going through a recession or should i say semi depression that lead to a great exodus, which brings me to this, i believe shabbaz when he said that the billions (oil revenue) was never trickled down to the hood, and the yutes around my age rebelled BC of the lack of care by the system!
call me naive, but i was there and shabbaz is around my age so he was there too, and maybe abu bakar had his own agenda and saw a grand opportunity to take advantage of a volatile situation, the fact remains that belmont, upper st.anns, EDR, morvant , laventille, the betham, sanjuan hill etc was all totally neglected areas and still is.
this criminal culture we're seeing now was in the making since colonial times that finally took root in the nineties and is now a sub culture in the society, and the lack of opportunities, care, government neglect together with the drug culture is the cause for our present crime situation.
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Bakr a no show
By JADA LOUTOO (Newsday).
Thursday, June 30 2011
JAMAAT al Muslimeen leader, Yasin Abu Bakr, through his attorney, has expressed concern that his testifying before the Commission of Inquiry investigating events surrounding the July 27, 1990, insurrection, which he led, was likely to taint the criminal trial against him for sedition and terrorism.
Bakr was scheduled to begin giving evidence before the inquiry, but yesterday’s session turned out to be anti-climatic after it was announced that the Muslimeen leader will not be testifying at this session which comes to an end tomorrow (Friday.)
A larger than usual media contingent were present at the Caribbean Court of Justice, Port-of-Spain, where the inquiry is being held.
Bakr is currently before Justice Mark Mohammed, on charges of sedition, promoting a terrorist act, and inciting others to breach the peace, stemming from his November, 2005 Eid sermon at his Mucurapo mosque.
If convicted, Bakr faces a penalty of 25 years hard labour.
The case has been in abeyance since 2007, when Justice Mohammed granted a cooling down period to determine whether adverse media reports at the time had tapered off enough to ensure he gets a fair trial, after his attorneys complained that pre-trial publicity was likely to taint the case, making it impossible for him to get a fair trial.
He has again raised these concerns, and according to one of his lawyers, Naveen Maharaj, the Jamaat leader was prepared to answer all the commission’s questions as well as assist the inquiry, however, not at this time.
Bakr is expected to appear before Justice Mohammed on July 5, at which time a trial date is expected to be set. Maharaj said they will be seeking to have the trial expedited, and perhaps heard in the new law term, which begins in September.
Maharaj said his lawyers were concerned that the questions asked of him at the inquiry may lead to him conceding, on record, that his actions during the 1990 insurrection amounted to a terrorist act, and this can be used by the prosecution against him at his trial.
His attorneys, who also includes Wayne Sturge, are also concerned that any adverse finding against him on the issue of credibility could also be used against him, and prejudice the trial.
Maharaj said Bakr would not want to contribute to the same pre-trial publicity of which he is complaining, by appearing and giving evidence at the inquiry, but he maintained that the Muslimeen leader “wants to testify, and will testify.”
Lead counsel to the commission, Avory Sinanan, SC, said while Bakr’s concerns about possibly incriminating himself appeared legitimate, the commission was not going to wait on him indefinitely.
He said given the fact that the scheduling of criminal trials were set cast in concrete, Sinanan asked that Bakr’s attorneys provide the commission with a written update on the developments in the criminal courts, so that they can make a realistic timetable for his appearance at the inquiry. Commission chairman, Sir David Simmons informed Maharaj that they were acceding to the request to have Bakr testify at a later stage at the inquiry, but urged him to keep the commission abreast as to the developments regarding the criminal trial.
At his trial in the Port-of-Spain High Court, Bakr had complained that pre-trial publicity was likely to taint the minds of potential jurors, making it impossible for him to get a fair trial.
He had asked that his trial be stayed permanently. But Mohammed instead embraced the suggestion by the prosecution of a cooling-off period to sanitise the minds of potential jurors.
Mohammed said at the time, while the court had to balance press freedom with that of ensuring an accused person received a fair trial, the latter was the prevailing factor.
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Whoa. Even the muslimeen asking for an inquiryn :o
It's ridiculous that we haven't had anything. What the history books supposed to say? Do we have a proper record ???
I don't know if our judicial process failed us or not with the pardon but one thing for sure is that we have had some very negative consequences as a result and still paying the price.
I wonder if Shabazz realise how lucky he is to have any freedom because sometimes when he talks about these hardships...ie. 53 days detention in the US...I wonder if he understands how small that is compared to what he should have been serving in jail given what they did. Still sounds like they feel some amount of justification for what they did even if he believes it could have been done better. Worrying message we have sent as a country on consequences to assaulting our democracy.
Exactly! You basically hold a country at gun point and talk about struggles! Buh wah de arse is this! What about people who had to go through the trauma of the coup? I had two friends who were at the National Stadium watching a Shell Caribbean Cup match between T&T and Jamaica at the time of the coup. His brother was at my house and I remember both of us worrying about his brothers.
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Whoa. Even the muslimeen asking for an inquiryn :o
It's ridiculous that we haven't had anything. What the history books supposed to say? Do we have a proper record ???
I don't know if our judicial process failed us or not with the pardon but one thing for sure is that we have had some very negative consequences as a result and still paying the price.
I wonder if Shabazz realise how lucky he is to have any freedom because sometimes when he talks about these hardships...ie. 53 days detention in the US...I wonder if he understands how small that is compared to what he should have been serving in jail given what they did. Still sounds like they feel some amount of justification for what they did even if he believes it could have been done better. Worrying message we have sent as a country on consequences to assaulting our democracy.
Exactly! You basically hold a country at gun point and talk about struggles! Buh wah de arse is this! What about people who had to go through the trauma of the coup? I had two friends who were at the National Stadium watching a Shell Caribbean Cup match between T&T and Jamaica at the time of the coup. His brother was at my house and I remember both of us worrying about his brothers.
:bs: I swear, some trinidians is as soft as sh!t. every country that champions democracy freedom and justice for the masses had in some way fought against or over thrown their oppressors.
how de fack you think the british got trinidad from the spaniards, they invaded them!! and this still happens today as we've seen in iraq and now seeing in libya. the americans fought two wars with britain their colonial masters, and a civil war that lasted quite a while losin thousands in the process.
as much as you may hate it, sometimes these thing are necessary and @ that point in time in T&T the poor were being severely oppressed, that's why there was such ah mass exodus in T&T. even indians who were well to do was running canada seekin political asylum status sayin how nayger rapin and oppressin dem. yeh they were being raped and oppressed, but it was the government who was doing it. :rotfl:
i remember up till chambers time when you coulda just walk in the embassy the same day and got a visa, that's how lacks and comfortable the country was, but come late eighties early nineties when the recession hit, there wasn't enough stamps in the embassy to issue visas.
as ah matter of fact i remember coming home in 1990 and saw ppl sleepin in front the embassy and sellin the spots to first comers for as much as $150 which was good money back then.
now there's something to be said about a place where ppl are so desperate to flee, and if ppl were so desperate to flee it, imagine what else they wouldn't do. even i woulda pick up arms after what i saw fellas like O'halleran moonan and certain government ministers were gettin away with while we the lest fortunate had tuh eat grass to survive.
PS: bredder, back in the mid to late eighties yuh could'nt even get a wuk mixin cement or woss yet, washin cars for a rental or insurance company, trust meh, i tried! and whether yuh believe it or not, those are the right conditions for an up rising.
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^^^Please, NONE of that bullshit you just type even begins to explain or justify what these treacherous murderers did with that coup. Every other situation you describe with people having to rise up against oppressors didn't have a democratic process in place for doing so. Elections was one year away... agitate at the ballot box, don't take the law into yuh own hands. These cowards walk up to a policeman on the steps of the Red House and pretend to ask for directions... soon as he raise he hand to point they shoot him twice point blank in he head. Another one at the guard house they shoot, drive the car over him and set him on fire. And you talking about all ah dis was necessary??
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Whoa. Even the muslimeen asking for an inquiryn :o
It's ridiculous that we haven't had anything. What the history books supposed to say? Do we have a proper record ???
I don't know if our judicial process failed us or not with the pardon but one thing for sure is that we have had some very negative consequences as a result and still paying the price.
I wonder if Shabazz realise how lucky he is to have any freedom because sometimes when he talks about these hardships...ie. 53 days detention in the US...I wonder if he understands how small that is compared to what he should have been serving in jail given what they did. Still sounds like they feel some amount of justification for what they did even if he believes it could have been done better. Worrying message we have sent as a country on consequences to assaulting our democracy.
Exactly! You basically hold a country at gun point and talk about struggles! Buh wah de arse is this! What about people who had to go through the trauma of the coup? I had two friends who were at the National Stadium watching a Shell Caribbean Cup match between T&T and Jamaica at the time of the coup. His brother was at my house and I remember both of us worrying about his brothers.
:bs: I swear, some trinidians is as soft as sh!t. every country that champions democracy freedom and justice for the masses had in some way fought against or over thrown their oppressors.
how de fack you think the british got trinidad from the spaniards, they invaded them!! and this still happens today as we've seen in iraq and now seeing in libya. the americans fought two wars with britain their colonial masters, and a civil war that lasted quite a while losin thousands in the process.
as much as you may hate it, sometimes these thing are necessary and @ that point in time in T&T the poor were being severely oppressed, that's why there was such ah mass exodus in T&T. even indians who were well to do was running canada seekin political asylum status sayin how nayger rapin and oppressin dem. yeh they were being raped and oppressed, but it was the government who was doing it. :rotfl:
i remember up till chambers time when you coulda just walk in the embassy the same day and got a visa, that's how lacks and comfortable the country was, but come late eighties early nineties when the recession hit, there wasn't enough stamps in the embassy to issue visas.
as ah matter of fact i remember coming home in 1990 and saw ppl sleepin in front the embassy and sellin the spots to first comers for as much as $150 which was good money back then.
now there's something to be said about a place where ppl are so desperate to flee, and if ppl were so desperate to flee it, imagine what else they wouldn't do. even i woulda pick up arms after what i saw fellas like O'halleran moonan and government ministers were gettin away with while we the lest fortunate had tuh eat grass to survive.
PS: bredder, back in the mid to late eighties yuh could'nt even get a wuk mixin cement or woss yet, washin cars for a rental or insurance company, trust meh, i tried! and whether yuh believe it or not, those are the right conditions for an up rising.
I hear what you are saying, but I was eleven years old at the time and was very traumatised by the experience. Also, in my experience at the time, T&T was (still is?) a relatively peaceful country. It wasn't as if this was Israel or some other conflict-prone area, where disturbances of this type are commonplace. When the coup occurred, I didn't even know what a coup was! As an eleven-year-old, I had to look up the word in the dictionary. In fact, my first association with the word was the 1990 insurrection.
Even twenty-one years later as an older and more experienced human being, I still can't condone what the Jamaat did. As Bakes quite rightly said, what they did was a cowardly act and there were other avenues to address their grievances with the T&T government. Vote the scamps out if you don't like how things are being run.
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^^^Please, NONE of that bullshit you just type even begins to explain or justify what these treacherous murderers did with that coup. Every other situation you describe with people having to rise up against oppressors didn't have a democratic process in place for doing so. Elections was one year away... agitate at the ballot box, don't take the law into yuh own hands. These cowards walk up to a policeman on the steps of the Red House and pretend to ask for directions... soon as he raise he hand to point they shoot him twice point blank in he head. Another one at the guard house they shoot, drive the car over him and set him on fire. And you talking about all ah dis was necessary??
So what you saying, you have full confidence in the democratic process? the ppl in egypt had the democratic process, but did that help them? same in syria and bahrain! i don't expect you to understand BC fellas like you never experience hardship or hunger one day in allyuh lives so violent resistance might be ah hard concept to grasp.
all i could go by is basic human nature, yuh fack wid a thing long enough it will turn on you, and no amount ah rational could change that! yes what abu did was facked up and i'm not exonerating that! i actually believe he saw an opportunity for himself and took advantage of the less privileged,
and i will go as far as to blame him for the gun culture that now permeates T&T society, but i will have to exonerate the young fellas like shabbazz whom he influenced. BTW i don't know this man, but i have friends who do, and this man is no slough, he's an extremely influential man, and we all know what that could do to an impressionable desperate yute.
even i consider my self to be level headed and thoughtful, but i have to be honest, the last fews yrs of my life in T&T had me doing some real unscrupulous things to get by, and me being the same age as shabbazz, i don't know if i was offered the opportunity to have a better existence if i would've had the fortitude to resist.
BTW sharks, i had a lot of breddren that took part in the insurrection. i remember back then we all had revolutionary views, we didn't sit down on the corner like other fellas suting girls all day, but rather were involved in political groups and activism in the community center, that's where abu got most of his recruits, behind the bridge, amongst the desperate "young" ppl who hope had eluded. they even had guys as young as 14 in that coup, when saying so, jah david the well known G unit gangster was one of them, he was just 13 yrs old.. believe it or not.
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^^^Please, NONE of that bullshit you just type even begins to explain or justify what these treacherous murderers did with that coup. Every other situation you describe with people having to rise up against oppressors didn't have a democratic process in place for doing so. Elections was one year away... agitate at the ballot box, don't take the law into yuh own hands. These cowards walk up to a policeman on the steps of the Red House and pretend to ask for directions... soon as he raise he hand to point they shoot him twice point blank in he head. Another one at the guard house they shoot, drive the car over him and set him on fire. And you talking about all ah dis was necessary??
So what you saying, you have full confidence in the democratic process? the ppl in egypt had the democratic process, but did that help them? same in syria and bahrain! i don't expect you to understand BC fellas like you never experience hardship or hunger one day in allyuh lives so violent resistance might be ah hard concept to grasp.
Right because you know my situation and where I come from right? Look fella f**k you and the horse yuh ride in on yes. I ent even bothering read the rest of what yuh type, leh we leave it there.
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???
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^^^Please, NONE of that bullshit you just type even begins to explain or justify what these treacherous murderers did with that coup. Every other situation you describe with people having to rise up against oppressors didn't have a democratic process in place for doing so. Elections was one year away... agitate at the ballot box, don't take the law into yuh own hands. These cowards walk up to a policeman on the steps of the Red House and pretend to ask for directions... soon as he raise he hand to point they shoot him twice point blank in he head. Another one at the guard house they shoot, drive the car over him and set him on fire. And you talking about all ah dis was necessary??
So what you saying, you have full confidence in the democratic process? the ppl in egypt had the democratic process, but did that help them? same in syria and bahrain! i don't expect you to understand BC fellas like you never experience hardship or hunger one day in allyuh lives so violent resistance might be ah hard concept to grasp.
all i could go by is basic human nature, yuh fack wid a thing long enough it will turn on you, and no amount ah rational could change that! yes what abu did was facked up and i'm not exonerating that! i actually believe he saw an opportunity for himself and took advantage of the less privileged,
and i will go as far as to blame him for the gun culture that now permeates T&T society, but i will have to exonerate the young fellas like shabbazz whom he influenced. BTW i don't know this man, but i have friends who do, and this man is no slough, he's an extremely influential man, and we all know what that could do to an impressionable desperate yute.
even i consider my self to be level headed and thoughtful, but i have to be honest, the last fews yrs of my life in T&T had me doing some real unscrupulous things to get by, and me being the same age as shabbazz, i don't know if i was offered the opportunity to have a better existence if i would've had the fortitude to resist.
BTW sharks, i had a lot of breddren that took part in the insurrection. i remember back then we all had revolutionary views, we didn't sit down on the corner like other fellas suting girls all day, but rather were involved in political groups and activism in the community center, that's where abu got most of his recruits, behind the bridge, the desperate "young" ppl. they even had guys as young as 14 in that coup, when saying so, jah david the well known G unit gangster was one of them, he was just 13 yrs old.. believe it or not.
One of my bredrin get caught up in that, he was one of the younger ones and he came from a very good and respectable home. He had nothing to worry about. His dad had a good job, his mom did well, his sister had and brother were always quiet attending church and getting good grades.
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^^^Please, NONE of that bullshit you just type even begins to explain or justify what these treacherous murderers did with that coup. Every other situation you describe with people having to rise up against oppressors didn't have a democratic process in place for doing so. Elections was one year away... agitate at the ballot box, don't take the law into yuh own hands. These cowards walk up to a policeman on the steps of the Red House and pretend to ask for directions... soon as he raise he hand to point they shoot him twice point blank in he head. Another one at the guard house they shoot, drive the car over him and set him on fire. And you talking about all ah dis was necessary??
So what you saying, you have full confidence in the democratic process? the ppl in egypt had the democratic process, but did that help them? same in syria and bahrain! i don't expect you to understand BC fellas like you never experience hardship or hunger one day in allyuh lives so violent resistance might be ah hard concept to grasp.
Right because you know my situation and where I come from right? Look fella f**k you and the horse yuh ride in on yes. I ent even bothering read the rest of what yuh type, leh we leave it there.
Yuhs the quintessential educated snub nose arrogant trini yes. instead ah reasoning wid ah fella yuh choose the road of ignorance which is tuh cuss and show yuh asre instead ah being graceful under fire.
it's like you does cruse the site just tuh find ppl tuh break on oui. as soon as something eh sit right with you is all kinda forkin arsehole names yuh does want to be callin big men. all i did was mention that you might be ah sheltered kid BC of your accomplishments in life, no body eh saying yuh soft or yuhs ah mamas boy. i implied that you might be one of the fellas who parents kept you from the harsh realities of life, unlike fellas like me who was thrown to the wolves.
and the only reason i did that is BC college and law school eh cheap, and it's easy to assume that ah fella's parents was looking out for him from day one. what so wrong wid that? yes i could be ded wrong about you but it was not meant in no wise to malign or be disrespectful to you, actually it was more of a compliment than a put down, so why in the hell is your blood so close to your skin??!!
yuh know how much i wish i had someone to shelter me from some of the jackassness i've witnessed and experienced. you need to chill with all that arrogance bro, no matter what kinda sh!t ah man spew, @ the end of the day we're still grown ups on this site and we all deserve ah little respect, if not more, together with some kindness and understanding, instead of all this fack you and fack off and kiss this and kiss that, that's so classless and uncouth. :puking:
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Seriously, are we going to argue this? JC do you know Bakes story as much as he knows yours?
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all i did was mention that you might be ah sheltered kid BC of your accomplishments in life,
And when yuh typed those words is when you shoulda stop right dey and reconsider posting.......
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jc yuh come back from yuh hiatus and still talking ah crocus bag ah ass? Yuh real talk shit, ah mean more shit dan yuh does usualy spew when yuh talking about Islam...lol
Oh gorm boy. Abu and dem Ohhaoran and dem was long gone, this was the NAR not de PNM and as Bakes said them f**king murerers eh no f**king set ah robin hood merry men, dey was asshole terrorists..fire fr you for endorsing dat f**keries.
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jc yuh come back from yuh hiatus and still talking ah crocus bag ah ass? Yuh real talk shit, ah mean more shit dan yuh does usualy spew when yuh talking about Islam...lol
Oh gorm boy. Abu and dem Ohhaoran and dem was long gone, this was the NAR not de PNM and as Bakes said them f**king murerers eh no f**king set ah robin hood merry men, dey was asshole terrorists..fire fr you for endorsing dat f**keries.
Oh dear True Trini.....please do tell us how you really feel about JC's post..... :devil: ;D
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jc yuh come back from yuh hiatus and still talking ah crocus bag ah ass? Yuh real talk shit, ah mean more shit dan yuh does usualy spew when yuh talking about Islam...lol
Oh gorm boy. Abu and dem Ohhaoran and dem was long gone, this was the NAR not de PNM and as Bakes said them f**king murerers eh no f**king set ah robin hood merry men, dey was asshole terrorists..fire fr you for endorsing dat f**keries.
@ least i don't have tuh talk behind ah curtain. wid me what yuh see is what yuh get 100%. some ah allyuh have tuh assume another identity in order tuh say how allyuh really feel without looking like ah schmuck.
sometimes i does want tuh feel you and B&S is one in the same by the way allyuh like tuh talk down tuh grown ups like despised orphan children. it's like yuhs can't seem to agree to disagree without getting on like boar hogs! barking and cussin @ ppl allyuh don't know, or ever seen.
this is one of the reasons i kinda blank this forum. BC a lot of ppl miss the premise of this forum, it's a "discussion" forum! that means ppl are going to say some absurd things that would make you wonder, others would say things that you may totally endorse, but @ the end of the day no one has the right to dominate this forum like we in primary school.
if allyuh want stimulating profound convos then join the harvard almamata site. you and sharks , that is if yuhs is not the same individual. yuhs two is the epitome of educated middle class trinis, love tuh show off on ppl, by cussin and admonishing grown folks with sharp tongues.
that's why i kinda glad them young duncy lil ghetto boys have allyuh ( middle class educated hogs) livin scared in allyuh own home land, not that i'm endorsing that, but glad just the same. BC it will keep some ah allyuh in fackin check. that's why allyuh does come on here and cuss ppl up and down with reckless abandonment, that's BC allyuh too fackin scared tuh do it in person BC yuhs might catch ah unpleasant surprise.
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all i did was mention that you might be ah sheltered kid BC of your accomplishments in life,
And when yuh typed those words is when you shoulda stop right dey and reconsider posting.......
Ask me if i give ah solitary fack!
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ahhh ... feels like home again.
JC, you eh see I start a thread asking where you was.
Welcome back. :beermug:
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all i did was mention that you might be ah sheltered kid BC of your accomplishments in life,
And when yuh typed those words is when you shoulda stop right dey and reconsider posting.......
Yuh have tuh excuse me but i may have jumped the gun on my reply. truth is i really didn't get the jest of your post when coming to think of it, please explain if it's not too much trouble.
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all i did was mention that you might be ah sheltered kid BC of your accomplishments in life,
And when yuh typed those words is when you shoulda stop right dey and reconsider posting.......
Yuh have tuh excuse me but i may have jumped the gun on my reply. truth is i really didn't get the jest of your post when coming to think of it, please explain if it's not too much trouble.
yuh likes jumping on man gun eh? Yuh is ah nasty fella. Yuh does talk about hiding behind identity..I is Trinity Cross and I is just cool with who I is...now hush before I spank yuh and make yuh lie dong by yuh dish in de kitchen.
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Now TT...why yuh acting so vulgar.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHHtTPH8Nkg
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jc yuh come back from yuh hiatus and still talking ah crocus bag ah ass? Yuh real talk shit, ah mean more shit dan yuh does usualy spew when yuh talking about Islam...lol
Oh gorm boy. Abu and dem Ohhaoran and dem was long gone, this was the NAR not de PNM and as Bakes said them f**king murerers eh no f**king set ah robin hood merry men, dey was asshole terrorists..fire fr you for endorsing dat f**keries.
@ least i don't have tuh talk behind ah curtain. wid me what yuh see is what yuh get 100%. some ah allyuh have tuh assume another identity in order tuh say how allyuh really feel without looking like ah schmuck.
sometimes i does want tuh feel you and B&S is one in the same by the way allyuh like tuh talk down tuh grown ups like despised orphan children. it's like yuhs can't seem to agree to disagree without getting on like boar hogs! barking and cussin @ ppl allyuh don't know, or ever seen.
this is one of the reasons i kinda blank this forum. BC a lot of ppl miss the premise of this forum, it's a "discussion" forum! that means ppl are going to say some absurd things that would make you wonder, others would say things that you may totally endorse, but @ the end of the day no one has the right to dominate this forum like we in primary school.
if allyuh want stimulating profound convos then join the harvard almamata site. you and sharks , that is if yuhs is not the same individual. yuhs two is the epitome of educated middle class trinis, love tuh show off on ppl, by cussin and admonishing grown folks with sharp tongues.
that's why i kinda glad them young duncy lil ghetto boys have allyuh ( middle class educated hogs) livin scared in allyuh own home land, not that i'm endorsing that, but glad just the same. BC it will keep some ah allyuh in fackin check. that's why allyuh does come on here and cuss ppl up and down with reckless abandonment, that's BC allyuh too fackin scared tuh do it in person BC yuhs might catch ah unpleasant surprise.
I say I wasn't going tuh respond to you any further on this eh, in part because I don't see the need for no setta long back and forth. But let's get it clear, I didn't call you any "forkin arsehole names" nor did I talk down to you... I told you what yuh could do with yuhself. How you take that is up to you. I am genuinely baffled by the fact that you somehow feel yuh entitled to a dignified rational response to the ignorance you posted.
You take my unwillingness to accept the excuses you offer as liberty to make all kinda uneducated (and off-base) assumptions about my upbringing... 'bout how I musta never gone hungry one day in my life, on the basis of what... that I choose to educate myself? You know what kinda sacrifices I make in order to pay for my education or what kinda student loan debt I carrying to come with that kinda foolish talk? steups
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One crocus bag ah ass he always talking.
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Even if one does go hungry at times in life, does that in some way or the other justify lawlessness? Everyone can claim that their life has been difficult at some point in time but not everyone turns into a bandit or murderer. A lot of people fail to realise that everyone had an equal chance to succeed in life. Yeah some people have some connections but education in Trinidad and Tobago being free offer alot of opportunity for those really seeking it. People now claiming injustice and unfairness are usually the same persons who never took school seriously, were disruptive in class and then grew up to realise that the world isn't fair and you do need to work hard to gain everything. People like that get no sympathy from me at all. There are too many examples of people who have risen above poverty and hardship to make something of their lives and contribute to society.
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ent dey say dem is african and dat Africa is de final destination? Send dem back to africa and let dem eat hog meat
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jc yuh come back from yuh hiatus and still talking ah crocus bag ah ass? Yuh real talk shit, ah mean more shit dan yuh does usualy spew when yuh talking about Islam...lol
Oh gorm boy. Abu and dem Ohhaoran and dem was long gone, this was the NAR not de PNM and as Bakes said them f**king murerers eh no f**king set ah robin hood merry men, dey was asshole terrorists..fire fr you for endorsing dat f**keries.
@ least i don't have tuh talk behind ah curtain. wid me what yuh see is what yuh get 100%. some ah allyuh have tuh assume another identity in order tuh say how allyuh really feel without looking like ah schmuck.
sometimes i does want tuh feel you and B&S is one in the same by the way allyuh like tuh talk down tuh grown ups like despised orphan children. it's like yuhs can't seem to agree to disagree without getting on like boar hogs! barking and cussin @ ppl allyuh don't know, or ever seen.
this is one of the reasons i kinda blank this forum. BC a lot of ppl miss the premise of this forum, it's a "discussion" forum! that means ppl are going to say some absurd things that would make you wonder, others would say things that you may totally endorse, but @ the end of the day no one has the right to dominate this forum like we in primary school.
if allyuh want stimulating profound convos then join the harvard almamata site. you and sharks , that is if yuhs is not the same individual. yuhs two is the epitome of educated middle class trinis, love tuh show off on ppl, by cussin and admonishing grown folks with sharp tongues.
that's why i kinda glad them young duncy lil ghetto boys have allyuh ( middle class educated hogs) livin scared in allyuh own home land, not that i'm endorsing that, but glad just the same. BC it will keep some ah allyuh in fackin check. that's why allyuh does come on here and cuss ppl up and down with reckless abandonment, that's BC allyuh too fackin scared tuh do it in person BC yuhs might catch ah unpleasant surprise.
I say I wasn't going tuh respond to you any further on this eh, in part because I don't see the need for no setta long back and forth. But let's get it clear, I didn't call you any "forkin arsehole names" nor did I talk down to you... I told you what yuh could do with yuhself. How you take that is up to you. I am genuinely baffled by the fact that you somehow feel yuh entitled to a dignified rational response to the ignorance you posted.
You take my unwillingness to accept the excuses you offer as liberty to make all kinda uneducated (and off-base) assumptions about my upbringing... 'bout how I musta never gone hungry one day in my life, on the basis of what... that I choose to educate myself? You know what kinda sacrifices I make in order to pay for my education or what kinda student loan debt I carrying to come with that kinda foolish talk? steups
Breddren is real small ting yuh eatin up yuhself for king. like i said before, i meant it in ah complementary manner and not disrespectful in the least. as yuh know, it's not my style to attack ppl unless they step out of bounds wid me, but odder dan dat, it's rare that i show my fangs unprovoked.
like i said before, yuhs ah kinda quarrelsome fella and does find it hard tuh over look some simple tings and go on cool about it. yuh say that yuh don't want tuh go on wid the long talk back and foth, and i not in the argument ting neither, so i will take the high road on this and sincerely apologize, BC my intention was never to malign or disrespect. since when growing up well taken care of is ah disrespect? ::) sometimes life does elude me yes. :beermug:
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ent dey say dem is african and dat Africa is de final destination? Send dem back to africa and let dem eat hog meat
Yuh know, if i was ah new member coming on here for the first time and read some of the slop you take precious time to type, especially if i was ah foreigner from a first world country, i would think that you were the biggest moron to ever sit behind ah computer keyboard. :notlistening:
you really need to get ah life and stop makin a :clown: of yuhself on the WWW. as for that monkey cratch you just typed, have you no shame man? yuh sound like one ah dem ole asses who used to fight down rastas in the early seventies, only to grow ah dread two decades later. :joker:
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Breddren is real small ting yuh eatin up yuhself for king. like i said before, i meant it in ah complementary manner and not disrespectful in the least. as yuh know, it's not my style to attack ppl unless they step out of bounds wid me, but odder dan dat, it's rare that i show my fangs unprovoked.
like i said before, yuhs ah kinda quarrelsome fella and does find it hard tuh over look some simple tings and go on cool about it. yuh say that yuh don't want tuh go on wid the long talk back and foth, and i not in the argument ting neither, so i will take the high road on this and sincerely apologize, BC my intention was never to malign or disrespect. since when growing up well taken care of is ah disrespect? ::) sometime life does elude me yes. :beermug:
De apology is appreciated but not necessary where I concerned, disagreements happen all the time we address it and move on. That being said doh come with this talk making it seem like my response was so irrational and unreasonable. Yuh didn't just say or imply that I was "taken care of"... you implied that I was somehow out of touch with the reality of what life is for people who struggling because I never had to struggle ah day in my life. Yuh didn't qualify the statement with a "maybe" or a "probably" or ah "I feel". Yuh juss assumed I juss born and reach whey I is without struggling. Life was never easy fuh me, trust me I have stories I could tell... but that doh make me special. Like many others I just didn't let challenges limit my achievement. These fellas who get caught up in the coup made the wrong decision, full stop.
But anyways, it done over and done with arready.
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ent dey say dem is african and dat Africa is de final destination? Send dem back to africa and let dem eat hog meat
Yuh know, if i was ah new member coming on here for the first time and read some of the slop you take precious time to type, especially if i was ah foreigner from a first world country, i would think that you were the biggest moron to ever sit behind ah computer keyboard. :notlistening:
you really need to get ah life and stop makin a :clown: of yuhself on the WWW. as for that monkey cratch you just typed, have you no shame man? yuh sound like one ah dem ole asses who used to fight down rastas in the early seventies, only to grow ah dread two decades later. :joker:
You think? Doh make me laff here.
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Anyone for ah Carib or Stag....?? :beermug:
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ent dey say dem is african and dat Africa is de final destination? Send dem back to africa and let dem eat hog meat
Yuh know, if i was ah new member coming on here for the first time and read some of the slop you take precious time to type, especially if i was ah foreigner from a first world country, i would think that you were the biggest moron to ever sit behind ah computer keyboard. :notlistening:
you really need to get ah life and stop makin a :clown: of yuhself on the WWW. as for that monkey cratch you just typed, have you no shame man? yuh sound like one ah dem ole asses who used to fight down rastas in the early seventies, only to grow ah dread two decades later. :joker:
I highly doubt that............. 8)
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Robbie knew of Jamaat threat
By Andre Bagoo (Newsday).
Saturday, October 29 2011
THERE were clear warnings on the “sinister” activities of the Jamaat al Muslimeem which former Prime Minister ANR Robinson should have picked up on in the months and weeks leading to the events of 1990, former Special Branch deputy director of Police Mervyn Guiseppi said yesterday.
Testifying at the commission of enquiry into the events of July 1990, Guiseppi said the Special Branch – the country’s then premiere security body – issued a series of reports warning the former prime minister and a former minister of National Security of the “sinister designs” of the Jamaat, which included plans to take action against the State in “early 1990” and to assassinate unspecified NAR Cabinet members.
The Special Branch, Guiseppi said, had clear information that the Jamaat were a threat to national security and to the stability of the government long before July 1990.
This information was communicated to Robinson and the minister of National Security at an unspecified date after 1987 and before the 1990 attempted insurrection unfolded.
“I can say so categorically,” Guiseppi said when asked whether the Special Branch had made known its views to the political directorate. “It was sent to the prime minister and the minister of National Security.”
Asked by enquiry counsel Avory Sinanan SC if anyone acted on the reports, Guiseppi said, “No. To the best of my knowledge the persons concerned did not act on them.”
“They ought to have drawn the links. They ought to have tied the dots together,” he added.
Among the information which the Special Branch had gathered were reports which showed that:
– in 1989 Jamaat henchman Bilal Abdullah held a meeting with eight Jamaat members informing them they would take action to attempt a coup in “early 1990”;
– members of the Islamic sect were planning to assassinate several NAR Cabinet members and this was, according to some reports, linked to the shooting at a car carrying the wife of the then president Noor Hassanali, Zalayhar. There was a report that the car carrying the wife of the president was mistaken for Robinson’s car.
– Jamaat leader Abu Bakr, by 1986/1987, was travelling to Libya, a country with open sympathies for terrorists; 25 Jamaat members were sent for training in Libya;
– eight members of the Defence Force and “four or five” members of the Police Service had joined with the Jamaat and there was an “aggressive” membership drive with camps at mosques and forested areas including Rio Claro; Cumaca; Toco; and Blanchisseuse.
– as far back as 1982, Bakr was seeking to smuggle guns into the country and AK 47s were found at a St James mosque.
So much information came in, Guiseppi said, the Special Branch held a meeting on the Wednesday before the July 27 events because it had come to the view that an attack was “imminent”.
“The Wednesday before the coup, I held a weekly meeting with all the members of the Special Branch,” he said. “We knew it was imminent... We would not tell the political directorate that it would happen at 6 pm on July 27, but we knew it was happening. We had no doubt, absolutely no doubt in our minds that a coup was imminent.”
Guiseppi, who was the deputy head of the Special Branch at the time, said he did not communicate this view over the imminence of the threat but noted that responsibility would have fallen to the then Special Branch head Dalton Harvey.
Guiseppi said he was not willing to put his head on a block to confirm that Harvey had warned Robinson directly, but this was “more than likely.”
Guiseppi noted that the Special Branch ascertained that one month after the NAR came into power in 1986, the Jamaat’s resentment for the government intensified with the Jamaat claiming the NAR had reneged on promises made on the 1986 campaign trail. He said there was never any information of the Jamaat assisting the NAR during its 1986 campaign.
The Special Branch noted public comments and threats made by Bakr and took them seriously, he said. Guiseppi said Special Branch forwarded reports to the political directorate in relation to Bakr’s trips to Libya. Bakr, he said, was linked to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s so-called Caribbean plan. (Gaddafi was slain on October 20, 2011 by rebels in Libya.)
“By 1986/1987 it was known to the world that Libya had 20 training camps and had been sponsoring terrorist activity worldwide, welcoming hijackers, providing logistical support. Libya was also accused of using diplomatic cover to transport arms and ammunition and to give terrorists passports.” This, he said, should have raised the alarm.
“It ought to have rung a bell in the heads of the political directorate,” he said. “That should have sent up some red flags.”
There were clear gaps in security measures to track nationals visiting countries of special interest such as Libya, he indicated.
In relation to the plots to kill members of the NAR Cabinet, Special Branch had intelligence suggesting that the Jamaat had placed Cabinet members under surveillance. This information, he said, was passed on to the “political directorate”.
“I indicated that they had sinister designs,” he said. “In plain language they were making preliminary moves to assassinate them.” He said there was intelligence which suggested that these plans may have been behind an incident which occurred involving Zalayhar Hassanali’s car when unknown persons opened fire. He said some information suggested that the attackers mistook the car for the prime minister’s.
“There were conflicting reports,” he said. “Some information suggested that. We have several theories. In one report it was thought to have been as a consequence of a family dispute.” He was unsure if any arrests were ever made but noted a person may have been picked up in the course of the investigation.
In 1982, Bakr had become Jamaat leader.
“Shortly after that in the same year, we would get information of attempts to get arms,” he said. All of the information was shared. “Not to do so would be to assume that we were collaborating with the Jamaat al Muslimeen,” he said. “It would have been inconceivable.”
At one stage, reports from agents intensified.
“Because of the proliferation of reports we were getting; we used to send the monthly intelligence report on a weekly basis,” Guiseppi said.
The enquiry continues on Monday at the Caribbean Court of Justice, Henry Street, Port-of-Spain.
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trinis is really ah set jokers and doh care damn,here we have ah set ah wannabe terrorist,rough up de cabinet,body count ah de dead eh sure,nobody eh know much Tb and stove people tief.them walkin free,bakr still out,and de jackass gov't give them money.bakr woulda be dead if i had meh way.fight fire with more fire.
Capo, i doh know yuh fardder and this response is in no wise meant in hostility, but i have to grossly disagree with you.
i could say right now unequivocally that if i never left trinidad i would've been part of that coop! now i don't know how old you are, but back then i would've been 25 yrs old and i remember @ that point in time in T&T there was "ABSOLUTELY" no fackin opportunities for young ppl coming out high school in those days! especially the lest fortunate.
i remember just before i decided to leave T&T all the good fellas in the EDR area was applying for anything including street sweeping jobs, but there was not even a wok tuh pick up dog sh!t in the streets that's how hopeless the situation became.
we applied to the police service, fire services, estate police, amry, coast guard, just to name ah few, and even though we all past the entrance exams, very few of us (two or three us from hundreds) were considered.
i remember when i returned home in 1990 around carnival time, most of them good fellas who i grew up with was sellin balls (crack) just to get by, that's how hopeless it was. remember these were the same fellas who couldv'e been police officers, firefighters or soldiers, as ah matter of fact, i have ah friend right now who is in the coast guard that used to rob businesses (back then fellas didn't rob ppl in the streets) and now he's ah productive member of society.
i would always say and continue to say that poverty and lack of opportunity leads to crime and corruption! T&T was always a society predicated upon nepotism, if yuh farrder or uncle is ah police then you in like flynn, and the same goes for all the other government services.
the neo colonialist saw to it that the lest fortunate were fed on scraps, not even crumbs but mere dust from the crumbs. i listen to some of the experience from the colonial era from my parents and grand parents time, and i have to say, how did those ppl even survived!
most of the lest fortunate (no income poor ppl ) were maids and watchmen, or doing the odd construction job here and there, some of them would've drove ah taxi for a cab company here and there, but it was ah hard time.
there were black ppl who was doing well and were extremely educated like the ellis clarks, david cuaminas and the ulric crosses, but they were few and far between, most black and spanish ppl lived in abject poverty during the colonial era.
back in the late eighties and nineties it was even worst, we were going through a recession or should i say semi depression that lead to a great exodus, which brings me to this, i believe shabbaz when he said that the billions (oil revenue) was never trickled down to the hood, and the yutes around my age rebelled BC of the lack of care by the system!
call me naive, but i was there and shabbaz is around my age so he was there too, and maybe abu bakar had his own agenda and saw a grand opportunity to take advantage of a volatile situation, the fact remains that belmont, upper st.anns, EDR, morvant , laventille, the betham, sanjuan hill etc was all totally neglected areas and still is.
this criminal culture we're seeing now was in the making since colonial times that finally took root in the nineties and is now a sub culture in the society, and the lack of opportunities, care, government neglect together with the drug culture is the cause for our present crime situation.
and what abu would have done for u personally by joinin in the chaos.....feed u everyday......open ah bank acc. fuh yuh....make yuh ah top man and yuh family would have been taken care of....not one f**k woulda be different.u woulda be wuss off...and if u bounce up ah man like me...well bredda either u kill me or i kill u.
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Capo, it ain't that simple. if yuh know anything about societal ills you would have ah different point of view. social constructs could be grossly misinterpreted.
food for thought, put yuh favorite sibling in my position (the same position you put me in, grace or total unaccommodating) and tell me if it would be the same consideration (you or me, death or pardon?). it's funny how we grow wings when it hits home.
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Capo, it ain't that simple. if yuh know anything about societal ills you would have ah different point of view. social constructs could be grossly misinterpreted.
food for thought, put yuh favorite sibling in my position (the same position you put me in, grace or total unaccommodating) and tell me if it would be the same consideration (you or me, death or pardon?). it's funny how we grow wings when it hits home.
JC wuh i do not understand,how could one put their trust or ally themselves with ah bunch ah vagabonds.that is all de muslimeen is,they stand fuh nutten good and decent....it is ah cover fuh bakr mischief and he brainwashin ah innocent youths and wanna be crooks.i had ah bunch ah runnins with them so called punks,from lance small aka fire or he muslim name olive el ayoumey (whatever) to the moulana from enterprise.....ah neva fear for meh life and them know better than to show up by meh door......like i always say....monkey know which tree to climb.
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Jury selection in Bakr sedition case starts today
By Derek Achong
T&T Guardian.
Special arrangements were made yesterday at the Port-of-Spain High Court in preparation for the start of the trial against Jamaat al Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr for sedition. The jury selection process for a nine-member jury with approximately six alternates is expected to begin at 9 am today before Justice Mark Mohammed in the Third Assizes Court. Attorneys representing Bakr and the State are expected to pick the jurors from a pool of more than 700 people who will attend court today.
Because of the unusually large juror pool for the case, potential jurors are to be housed in the Convocation Hall of the Hall of Justice. Television monitors and video conferencing equipment were installed at the hall over the weekend in preparation for the start of the trial which has in the past been adjourned on several occasions by Mohammed because of pre-trial publicity.
Attorneys representing the State and Bakr were taken on a tour of the temporary facilities yesterday by court administration personnel and were said to be pleased with the arrangements. In addition to sedition, Bakr also faces four other charges, including promoting a terrorist act, inciting others to breach the peace and inciting a riot.
The charges stem from a Eid sermon delivered by Bakr in November 2005, at the Jamaat’s mosque located at Mucurapo Road, St James. Bakr, also known as Lennox Phillip, 68, is said to be suffering from deep vein thrombosis and a damaged ankle, with his right leg being held in a plaster cast. Attorneys representing Bakr are expected to request special accommodation for him because of his medical condition.
Because of the high-profile nature of Bakr’s case and others which are continuing simultaneously, increased security is expected within the Assizes. A metal detector and a security check-point was seen yesterday outside the entrance to the courtroom where the matter will be heard.
Last year, Mohammed reserved two weeks for the jury selection process, after which Bakr’s trial is scheduled to begin. However, attorneys representing Bakr, led by British Queen’s Counsel Martin Hicks and defence attorney Wayne Sturge, are expected to apply for a further stay of execution for the trial on the basis of continuing pre-trial publicity.
On June 28 last year, Bakr, who was initially due to testify at the commission of enquiry into the July 27, 1990, attempted coup, declined through his attorneys. The commission, chaired by Sir David Simmons, was told that Bakr would only be willing to testify at the inquiry after his court matter before Mohammed is completed.
The commission of enquiry is due to resume on January 13. Bakr is also being represented by Naveen Maraj and Viveka Pargass. The State will be represented by special prosecutor Dana Seetahal, SC, and state prosecutor Renuka Rambhajan.
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Panday set to take witness stand as Coup enquiry resumes
By Geisha Kowlessar (Guardian).
Former prime minister Basdeo Panday is expected to take the witness stand at the 16th session of the Commission of Enquiry into the July 1990 attempted coup which resumes on Thursday at the Caribbean Court of Justice, Henry Street, Port-of-Spain. Legal sources at the commission said Panday is expected to testify on both Thursday and Friday.
They said this is expected to be the last session of the commission. The attempted insurrection was led by Jamaat al Muslimeen leader Imam Abu Bakr and involved 113 insurrectionists, who held parliamentarians hostage at the Red House, Abercromby Street, Port-of-Spain and also invaded then State-owned television station Trinidad and Tobago Television at Maraval Road, Port-of-Spain and Trinidad Broadcasting Company.
Contacted yesterday on whether he would be testifying, Bakr said, “I have said it over and over again. I am not a flippant person. Whatever I say is what I mean.” Asked if that meant he would not be testifying, Bakr hung up the phone. Sources close to him said he had not changed his mind about not testifying. In June, Bakr demanded he be paid $1m to testify.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Panday said he was “more than ready” to face the enquiry and was anxious to clear his name, as “some very spurious allegations” had been made against him by those who had previously testified. Panday said he had also intended to cross-examine those who made the allegations, but this request had been shot down by the commission. “So I will probably cross-examine the commission,” Panday added. “During the course of the enquiry, certain people made certain allegations against me, and if I do not go to the enquiry I would end up like a certain person against whom certain allegations were made in a certain enquiry and who did not answer.
“The public impression was that if allegations are made against you and you do not answer, then you have something to hide,” Panday said. Pressed for specifics of the allegations Panday said, “They were very spurious allegations. I don’t remember them, but they said all kinds of foolish things. I think it is important that the record show that I appeared and denied those allegations.” Panday added that nothing good would come of the enquiry.
“The commission of enquiry is a colossal waste of money going into millions of dollars. That money could be used to provide beds at the hospital, to clean people’s drains and so on in order to make people’s lives happy. “The commission had said that nothing would come out of this enquiry. They had said that nobody would be arrested or anything like that,” Panday added.
The enquiry so far
The enquiry was established to look into the events surrounding the attempted coup against the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) government on July 27, 1990. It began two and a half years ago and it has been reported that the Government has spent $31 million in fees so far. Close to 100 witnesses have given evidence in 15 sessions.
Those who were directly involved in the bloody uprising or who were victims or relatives of victims have testified. Witnesses included NAR politicians who were held hostage for six days in Parliament, including then prime minister Arthur NR Robinson, who was shot and wounded. Witnesses told how they went without food and water and lay bound and gagged on the floor of the Parliament chamber with guns to their heads while rebels and the soldiers exchanged gunfire.
Members of the Defence Force, including Col Hugh Vidale and retired Major General Ralph Brown and retired Brig Joe Theodore, who played a key role in helping to quell the insurrection, also gave evidence. Former Jamaat insurgent Jamaal Shabazz, who led the takeover of the Trinidad Broadcasting Company, also testified. He recounted in court the reasons for the attempted coup, tracing it back to the killing of WPC Bernadette James, who was shot dead during a training exercise in Chaguaramas. Shabazz apologised for the hurt and pain the rebels caused T&T.
In February this year there was uncertainty whether the enquiry would continue as questions were raised about the qualification of one of the commissioner’s, Dr Hafizool Mohammed. An investigation by the T&T Guardian found Mohammed obtained his DSc in international relations from Atlantic International University (AIU), which is described by various Web sites as a diploma mill. Mohammed described the discrepancies in his CV as “errors.”
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Muslimeen thrives on land, funding from State
By Asha Javeed (Express).
JAMAAT RAKING IN GOVT $$
The Sunday Express yesterday reported on the growing force of the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen in Carapo under Imam Hassan Ali and his son, Rajaee Ali.
Imam Ali told the Sunday Express that criminals and former prisoners would approach him to join the Jamaat and Islam. He said the group was now learning “how to come to order around here”.
Today, the Express examines the factors which have helped the Jamaat to thrive since the 1990 coup attempt.
Part II
The Carapo-based Jamaat-al-Muslimeen is controlling the mammoth share of the Ministry of Sport’s $113,502,273 Life Sport Programme, which the Ministry of Finance has found to be riddled with irregularities.
The co-ordinator of the programme is Rajaee Ali, son of the north-west leader of the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen, Imam Hassan Ali.
R Ali told the Express that police had detained him for gang-related activities following the murder of former independent senator and senior counsel Dana Seetahal.
The Life Sport Programme is one way in which the Jamaat has been funded through the Government in the past two years as payback for support for the People’s Partnership in the last general election.
Imam Hassan said he helped mobilise voters to get the People’s Partnership Government into office in 2010 “against orders”.
The Jamaat had openly supported the United National Congress (UNC) to help Basdeo Panday win the general election in 1995. However, the relationship quickly soured and the Jamaat, under leader Yasin Abu Bakr, supported the People’s National Movement (PNM) in the 2000, 2001 and 2002 general elections.
Hassan told the Express last Friday he was assisted by the Government “to help bring voters to vote. That kind of thing. I am telling you straight, my position.”
“I, me, prefer the coalition, the Partnership. I know it’s not a good example of what that could be but it’s a start. I didn’t like the one party ruling. I believe in power sharing. You understand what I’m saying?” he said in an interview at the Carapo mosque, where he is based.
“So we decide to help this against orders not to support them. We didn’t care. I participated to help the UNC come into power the first time they came into power. We were effective in the streets. We participate in the politics. We help try to bring the voters in and influence the voters and we know we do that well,” he said.
The Express questioned: How has the Jamaat been rewarded for its help?
In return, Hassan responded that he has “been assisted to help resolve issues on the ground on the low...quiet.”
Express: You’ve been assisted by the Ministry of National Security?
Hassan Ali: “I can’t say directly, I can’t say.”
Express: Are you disappointed now?
Hassan Ali: “I am not disappointed. The leadership show more testicular fortitude than a lot of them in trying to do things. I didn’t expect perfection. I expected people to try. As a matter of fact, we find we does function better when the UNC has some influence. These are things people don’t know.”
The Express learnt that the land on which the Jamaat is building its Carapo mosque is State land. Most of the residents in the surroundings houses are squatters, but the Express understands a senior Government official has assisted many residents in obtaining certificates of comfort from the State.
The east arm of the Jamaat was originally based in Arima, upstairs Pennywise building, but moved to Carapo in 2000.
Funding from Ministry of Sport’s Life Sport Programme
Hassan told the Express that he is able to assist many of the young men, whom he described as “the dregs of the society”, by enrolling them in the Ministry of Sport’s Life Sport Programme.
“They gave the programme to my son (Rajaee),” said Hassan without identifying who were “they”.
The Life Sport Programme was an initiative of the Ministry of Sport’s permanent secretary Ashwin Creed.
Its intent was to introduce sport and life skills to youths between 16-25 to curb crime in high-risk areas.
As coordinator of the programme, in Carapo’s case, Rajaee Ali would select 60 names and submit them to the programme. Each participant would be given a stipend of $1,500 a month to attend sessions from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
The programme is similar in principle to the Ministry of National Security’s $70 million-plus Hoop of Life, which is now under review by the Ministry.
When the Express observed that there were no facilities for the programme at the Carapo mosque, where emphasis was placed on introducing sport, Hassan pointed out that tents were erected outside the mosque to facilitate the program me.
He pointed to two piles of sand, which he said are going to be used to lay a permanent foundation to facilitate the program me.
“We used to have tents on the road. They (people who participated) weren’t all Muslims. Some of the Muslims were a little disappointed in attendance,” said Hassan.
Express: “Would you say that programme is a way to secure votes?”
Hassan Ali: “URP too. Anything could secure votes, but something is needed to help.”
Anil Roberts helped
Rajaee Ali told the Express that he was chosen by the Ministry of Sport to be head of Carapo’s Life Sport.
He said he met Sport Minister Anil Roberts “about nine to ten times” in the past two years. Roberts is also the MP for the area, D’Abadie/O’Meara.
“People on the board chose people in different areas who they believe could co-ordinate the youths in the programme. I just came out of prison. Someone on the board who knew me, who went to school with me, told me about it,” said R Ali.
In 2004, R Ali was charged with the murder of Amadoo Huggins, when he was just 18. He has spent eight years in prison.
In 2007, he was one of three prisoners who escaped from Golden Grove Prison in Arouca, but was eventually caught and sent back and was released in 2011.
“I was chosen. Once I could get up to 60 participants, which I carried out.
“That is how the rumours started about Anil Roberts funding crime. He gave men in the constituency an option to do something legal, to make money fair,” R Ali said.
In the Draft Estimates of Recurrent Expenditure for the Financial Year 2014, Life Sport is listed as a Transfer Programme. In 2012, the programme was given $6.6m. In 2013, the cost multiplied by almost five times to $29 million. By 2014, the programme increased in cost by $84.4m to $113,502,273.
It was the largest increase in the Ministry’s transfer.
Because of ballooning costs, the Life Sport Programme was audited by the Ministry of Finance, which showed multiple irregularities.
The Express understands that R Ali controls the mammoth share of the Life Sport Programme, not just in Carapo but in East Trinidad.
For the participants, $90,000 is allocated each month, which is exclusive of administrative costs and a stipend to the coordinator of each area.
The Express was told that R Ali facilitates several “ghost” names throughout the East and money is collected on their behalf. The Express understands this amounts to more than a million dollars every month.
“They’re making that money tax-free. People are collecting cheques for not even showing up,” said one Carapo resident familiar with the program me.
Questioned on these allegations of the programme, R Ali said: “It’s not a ghost programme, you have to do the work or else we don’t get pay.”
When the Express questioned him on the attendance of people enrolled in the programme, he explained that it was difficult for people to commit every day for the programme, but that it was left up to “the co-ordinators to make the adjustments”.
R Ali also addressed whether the Jamaat had threatened Creed within the last month.
The Express understands that Creed reportedly received threats from a known criminal he gave a $30 million contract under the Life Sport Programme.
On April 14, he contacted head of the Public Service Reynold Cooper requesting “emergency leave”, faxed him a letter with the request and left Trinidad on the same day.
Contacted yesterday, Cooper confirmed the events, but could not say why Creed needed the emergency leave. He told the Express that Creed was now back at work.
Asked whether he had threatened Creed, R Ali responded: “That’s not true. Rumours.”
Hassan Ali said: “They tried to use us, speculate with us. We know who is doing it and why.”
The Express understands that Cabinet was briefed on the Jamaat funding through the Life Sport Programme, but it has not been stopped.
Neither Creed nor Roberts returned calls or texts to the Express requesting information on the Life Sport Programme.
To be continued
Griffith responds
National Security Minister Gary Griffith is concerned that Government programmes are being used to fund gang activity.
“If political parties worked with groups to help them mobilise during election campaigns, that is not my business. It is not an illegal act. My focus is on gangs and specific gang leaders who have access to State contracts and using their profit not to enhance their community and reduce crime, but to use the profit to fuel crime via importation of illegal drugs and weapons and using naive youths to do their dirty work, upon which they become causalities,” he said.
“They are the ultimate enemies of the State. They are not community leaders but cold-blooded murderers and they would be treated, recognised and dealt with as such. They are causing fear, panic and grief to the law-abiding citizens of the country and I would leave no stone unturned to crush them. I have no intention to negotiate with cold-blooded killers,” he added.
“They use intimidation and fear tactics to succeed. That can’t work on me. There is a saying that if you play with filthy animals then you would get fleas. I do not care if it is a member of my family, a friend, a co-worker or law enforcement official involved. Anyone affiliated with criminals would be treated as such. That is my assurance,” he ended.
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COPS SEEK JAMAAT HELP.
By Asha Javeed (Express)
Carapo Imam: ‘A gun went missing in the police station. Twice. Officer send word to us to see if we find his gun...’
The Sunday Express has reported on the growing force of the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen in Carapo under Imam Hassan Ali and his son, Rajaee Ali.
Imam Ali acknowledged that his followers comprised criminals and former prisoners.
In Part II yesterday, the Express reported on how the Jamaat was able to set up a base in Carapo by squatting on State lands and being funded through the Ministry of Sport’s Life Sport Programme.
Today, the Express looks at the relationship between this perceived criminal group and the police.
Part III
The Carapo-based Jamaat operates with its own laws.
According to Imam Hassan Ali, the Jamaat has its own intelligence, is respected among different community leaders, mediates between the warring gangs and runs its own justice system.
Furthermore, Imam Ali said the Jamaat actually assists the police with intelligence and has helped the police retrieve guns when they have gone missing from the stations.
“It has been so a while on the grounds of Trinidad and Tobago and people don’t pay attention or they don’t know, that rather than go to the police you go to Jamaat-al-Muslimeen. You come and see the Imam and he would rectify. The police don’t like that, they hate that with a passion,” he said in an interview with the Express last Friday at the Carapo mosque after the traditional Jummah prayer.
“Any problem,” he said in response to what exactly the Jamaat assists with.
“People hear about the work we do and we help. Daughter missing. Son missing. We send brothers to look for them. We help,” he said.
“Now more than ever they come to resolve issues. We intervene,” he said.
He did not divulge how the Jamaat was rewarded for its help.
To illustrate his point, Hassan explained that even the police sought his help.
“A gun went missing in the police station. Twice. Officer send word to us to see if we find his gun on the streets. Now you don’t want to betray them. We go and find the gun and pay for it and give them back in the station. Twice,” he said.
He declined to explain to the Express how he would gather the intelligence to find the weapon, the name of the officer or to which station he was attached.
He just said, “we know through our networks” in response to further questions on the issue.
Express: “So you are very resourceful?”
Hassan Ali: “We have to be. We learn with nothing.”
Rogue Police
While he “strives to help” the police, he said there are rogue elements within the Police Service.
“We living it here. The police came. They are abusive and disrespectful. Some are professional and cordial and we could work with them. We could help them with anything. But there are those who, I don’t know…” he trailed off.
He claimed that an 18 year-old member was beaten by police for no reason about a month ago.
During the interview, he sent a member of the mosque to retrieve the boy who had already left the masjid following the Friday midday Jummah prayer.
The boy, who did not want his real name to be used because he wants to join the Coast Guard and fears victimisation, told the Express that police had pulled up alongside him and started to harass him.
He said there were two police officers in front and two soldiers in the back of the van. He said he was doing nothing and the law officials beat him up.
Hassan Ali said he took the boy to the Arima hospital and intends to file a report to the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) about the incident.
For Hassan and his men, the PCA is the option for them with regard to abuses they say are dealt to them by the police.
“I heard Gillian Lucky convey my sentiments yesterday for a while now. It is hard to get evidence against the police. Put cameras on the police.
“There are rogue elements in the Police Service who do not understand their role, who feel their role with us is confrontational because of 1990 without understanding what the cause is. No Muslim in his right mind want to take over this country. That was retaliation,” he said.
In Hassan’s view, the 1990 attempted coup can be summed up in one word: cause.
“The coup is-you provoke a people and they respond. It’s simple as that.
They don’t want to study cause at all. You must take oppression, take provocation, take aggravation and do not retaliate? Excuse the expression. That is what they do.... in the plantation and they’ve been doing that for a very long time. That’s not…come on, you know the word,” he told the Express.
Does his men have cause now?
Imam Ali said the police abuse is intolerable.
“There are rouge elements which still exist and I feel they want them there. It have gangsters in the Police Service too. We don’t have to take that. I am sensing they’re provoking confrontation. They want a confrontation,” he said.
Express: “So what do you do to prevent confrontation?”
Hassan Ali: “I reason.”
Ali explained that while he is able to reason with the police and his men, it’s not always he can prevent them from being angry.
Furthermore, he’s not always at the Carapo base.
“Police are violating the detention order. Walk up here. Take anybody they want. Lock them up. Keep them for three days. What kind of behaviour is that?” he asked.
Rajaee Ali’s growing power with gangs
Questioned on how he felt about his growing power, Hassan replied: “You know what power is in this society? Chamber of Commerce. Syrian Lebanese community. We are glad to because that is service to Allah and God Almighty.”
Express: “Well, you do wield power? From your loyalists?”
Hassan Ali: “People I help reform, they would be loyal to me. Hence the talk of being in charge of 200 men.”
“When these brothers come, you talk about power but it’s love and patience and helping each other. And I know how it looks. And it’s sad for people to see it so because they expect a congregation of parents to look like the congregation church or the Hindu mandir. But these are different people. They walk and move, their body language is basically one way,” he explained.
He pointed to his son Rajaee Ali and attempted to explain his growing power and influence. Hassan explained that R Ali was able to walk the streets of Malabar and Maloney and unite the groups.
R Ali’s growing power has not gone unnoticed by the police who arrested him on Friday May 9 for gang activities. However, with no evidence to charge him, he was released after two days.
Imam Ali said that within the last few months, R Ali has been bringing the gangs to order, which the police do not acknowledge or appreciate.
Express: “Is there gang activity?”
Hassan Ali: “No.”
Express: “What is gang activity?”
Hassan Ali: “They are defining gang. When you look at gang you have to look at North America and South America. Who they claiming is gang don’t really call themselves gang now. That’s another story. The legislation is a mad piece of legislation which really setting people up. But they don’t want to hear that from me.”
Imam Ali said he’s now about bringing his men to order and training them.
“I have to select from among us, those who I feel have the ability to serve like that. It has to happen. They need help to resolve the crime in the ground,” he said.
Contacted yesterday on whether the police had used the Jamaat’s help, Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams reserved comment until he had read the story in today’s paper.
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The Man Who Tried to Overthrow the Trinidad Government: Interview with Abu Bakr
https://www.youtube.com/v/NhJDsJuOweE
CRIME & DRUGS
The Islamic Leader Who Tried to Overthrow Trinidad Has Mellowed… a Little (https://news.vice.com/article/the-islamic-leader-who-tried-to-overthrow-trinidad-has-mellowed-a-little)
By Danny Gold
May 30, 2014 | 4:15 pm
At his compound on the outskirts of Port of Spain, the man responsible for the only attempted militant Islamic overthrow of a Western government is smiling. "I've been charged with treason, I've been charged with sedition, with murder, conspiracy to murder, [stockpiling] guns...." Abu Bakr, the fiery 73-year-old leader of Jamaat al Muslimeen, rattles off the many accusations that the government of Trinidad and Tobago has leveled against him.
"Nothing has stuck, because it's fabricated," he continues. "They list all the charges in a book, and they just throw the book at me.... That's not prosecution, that's persecution!"
Bakr has mellowed a bit in his old age, but he still relishes the opportunity to serve as a thorn in the side of the government with whom he has clashed for decades. Depending on which local you ask, "The Jamaat" is either a jihadi group, a vast criminal organization, an invaluable community resource providing jobs and social services to Trinidad's disadvantaged, or a combination of all three.
But everyone agrees that the coup that Bakr led in 1990 — which held the state hostage for six days, unleashed widespread looting and chaos, and resulted in 24 deaths and the shooting of the prime minister — changed the country forever.
“That coup affected the nation, the society on a whole physically, psychologically, and otherwise,” says Inspector Roger Alexander, the head of a special police task force in the capital, Port of Spain. “It showed the weakness, and when weakness is exposed, many people take advantage.”
The country’s murder rate has spiraled out of control, mostly due to a thriving drug trade and gang violence. Many, though, attribute the rise of violence in the country to a precedent that Bakr set by going after the government. “It taught gun diplomacy,” says Hal Greaves, a community activist who works on anti-violence programs.
When I arrive to meet Bakr at Jaamat’s sprawling headquarters on the outskirts of Port of Spain, a three-year Commission of Enquiry into the 1990 coup has just been completed. Bakr refused to attend and testify despite threats of additional prosecution.
Instead, he announced that he plans to present his reasons for the coup directly to the country's people. During a lengthy interview with VICE News, however, he's comfortable discussing everything that led up to it, as well as pontificating on a number of other topics.
“My responsibility is to the people of Trinidad and Tobago," he tells me. "In the end, they will judge how I interact with everyone."
* * *
Bakr is extremely charismatic. About 6'4", he greets me warmly when I enter his office, and is full of good cheer and quick jokes. When I start to ask him questions about crime and corruption in Trinidad, he dismisses them with a smile, saying, “These are political questions, and I am a priest.”
But he is far more than a simple Imam, as evidenced by the scowling bodyguards who shadow his every step. In Crown Heights, my Trinidadian neighborhood in Brooklyn, immigrants who left the island decades ago still speak of him in hushed tones, as if he is the shadow ruler of the entire country.
Though he went to college in Toronto, Bakr says he is Trinidadian “to the bone and in the marrow.” Canada, however, is where he converted to a style of pan-African revolutionary Islam heavily influenced by the Nation of Islam. He came back to Trinidad and became a police officer while Jamaat al Muslimeen took shape.
A government minister warned Jamaat to get the amnesty deal in writing. Several copies were made, but when Jamaat turned themselves in, authorities tore up all the copies.
A lot of Jamaat’s enemies have labeled it as a jihadi organization, but its roots were as a social protest movement. Jamaat established itself as a sort of self-sustaining community, preaching discipline and offering social services and jobs to disenfranchised Trinidadians, many from the violent and drug-ridden neighborhoods of East Port of Spain.
“A lot of their main enemies try to label them as a radical Islamist group like al Qaeda, which is absurd,” says Chris Zambelis, a senior analyst who conducted lengthy research on the group and authored a number of reports for Terrorism Monitor.
Instead, Zambelis explains, they were more like a Black Power movement that used Islamic and revolutionary discourse to advocate for Afro-Trinidadians. In the 1970s and 1980s, Trinidad was divided along racial lines between those with African heritage and those with Indian heritage; many Afro-Trinidadians felt the government neglected them. And so Jamaat prospered and became quite powerful, functioning as a sort of stand-in local government in some places.
As we stroll through the compound, Bakr points out where there was once a garment factory, a wood shop, a dental clinic, a health clinic, schools, soup kitchens, and a large mosque. But in the lead-up to the coup and the ensuing chaos, most of it was destroyed by government forces. Many Trinidadians say that the country's very social fabric, and any semblance of law and order, was destroyed as well.
* * *
On July 27, 1990, a children's program on Trinidad and Tobago Television was interrupted by the image of Bakr, wearing a flowing white gown, seated behind a desk. “At 6PM this afternoon, the government of Trinidad and Tobago was overthrown,” he told the nation. “The prime minister and members of the cabinet are under arrest. We are asking everybody to remain calm. The revolutionary forces are commanded to control the streets. There shall be no looting.”
Widespread looting immediately followed — and it devastated the city. Bakr repealed a 15 percent sales tax live on the air, then the Disney movie The Little Mermaid played. Meanwhile, at the Red House, the nation's parliament building, former Minister Joseph Toney was addressing his peers. In video from the incident, Toney stops speaking as shots are heard. Screams follow. Toney and others run and hide for cover as an armed man in fatigues arrives and starts beating him with a rifle. For six days and five nights, the nation was held hostage.
Bakr says the coup attempt was years in the making, occurring, he insists, because “the government did not obey the rule of law; they plunged the country into anarchy.”
It’s a strange proclamation for a man whose followers blew up a police station with a car bomb, shot the prime minister in the leg, and took over parliament while it was in session. But even 24 years later, Bakr still sees the coup attempt as something that needed to be done because a corrupt government and police force was targeting Jamaat. In his telling, the origins of the coup can be traced to a simple land dispute.
Bakr’s sprawling compound lies on land that was gifted in 1969 to a Muslim organization that predated Jamaat. At the time, the area was nothing but swampland. Bakr and his people drained the swamp and started building their own community. He says that over time, the land became prime real estate, coveted by powerful people in the country who wished to take it for themselves. As the land dispute continued, authorities occupied part of the compound, then refused to abandon their positions despite a court order. More legal fights ensued, but the situation remained at a standstill.
Bakr claims that as this was going on, he and his followers were shutting down the country's drug trade. This angered Trinidad’s elites, many of whom — including the attorney general and the minister of national security — he accuses of being tied to drugs. “They were all involved in the narco trade, and we were opposed to that," Bakr says. "We were cleaning this place up from drugs."
His claim isn't totally without corroboration; in 1987, a police officer allegedly witnessed a number of powerful officials conducting a massive cocaine deal in a private room at Piarco International Airport. The officer, Bernadette James, turned to Bakr for protection. “She came to us and told us that the government was planning to kill her,” Bakr says. James later died suspiciously while participating in a police anti-terrorism exercise, when a single live round was used amid thousands of blanks reportedly fired. James was sitting on a bus filled with other police officers participating in the exercise; the live round, allegedly fired by a man outside the bus, struck James and killed her.
“Four days before they killed her, she came to me and told me about the people who were in the VIP room,” Bakr says.
Her death had a profound effect on Bakr, who decided he was at war. ”My wife reminded me that when she married me I was a tiger and it seems like now I’ve become a pussy-cat,” he recalls of that time.
And so Bakr decided to expose what James had told him. He went to the government. He went to the courts. But nothing happened. Bakr claims that an informant in the Ministry of National Security then told him authorities were going to attack his compound and destroy everything in an attempt to provoke a reaction from Jaamat that would justify extrajudicial killings.
Jamaat had been stockpiling arms and training for years, with some members even receiving paramilitary experience in Libya.
“By that time, we had prepared to defend ourselves,” Bakr says. “We went to the parliament and arrested [the politicians] and charged them for murder. That is the coup, that was what the coup was about.”
* * *
Bakr doesn’t go into detail about the siege. A Trinidadian journalist now based in New York told me many of the country’s people think Bakr expected the country to rise up with him and thank him for ridding them of a corrupt regime. That didn’t happen.
Instead, the siege of parliament continued until the leaders of Jamaat realized they had no way out. At one point, members of Jaamat stationed in the Red House asked Prime Minister A.N.R. Robinson, who died this past April, to call off his troops. They handed him a microphone to address forces stationed outside, but Robinson instead told his troops to “attack with full force.” Robinson was promptly shot in the leg.
'It’s getting worse every day, and it’s going to explode,' Bakr says of Trinidad’s crime and corruption.
Less than a week after the coup began, a now infamous amnesty deal was reached that was supposed to allow all members of Jamaat to go free. Bakr says the siege then wrapped up with the government admitting they were wrong.
While Bakr and his crew were negotiating for amnesty, a government minister named John Humphrey warned them to get the deal in writing. A number of copies were made of the statement were made for the proper authorities, and when everyone from Jamaat had turned themselves in, the authorities tore up the documents, according to Bakr.
Bakr and many of his followers were sentenced to death before a court battle ensued and the amnesty deal was upheld. They were released after two years in prison.
The men who had tried to violently overthrow the government then began campaigning for the country’s most powerful political parties.
* * *
Daurius Figeuira, a researcher who has written about both the coup attempt and the drug trade in the Caribbean, tells me that the coup set a terrible precedent. “When we have a marginalized group living on swampland on the outskirts of the inner city, that then storms the parliament and takes the prime minister hostage, what happens to the legitimacy of the state?” he asks, rhetorically. “It has yet to be repaired, because immediately after the coup in the general election of 1991, politicians were dancing with the Jaamat al Muslimeen to campaign for them.”
Members of Jamaat had been used in the 1980s by politicians who wanted help winning elections — and who then wanted enforcers. This practice resumed shortly after the coup attempt. Jamaat also received lucrative government contracts meant to combat unemployment, known as the Unemployment Relief Programme, which they essentially used as a money-making racket.
Since their release, Bakr and his followers continued to run afoul of the law. A Bakr associate was convicted of repeatedly attempting to traffic in guns from Florida, and in 2005 was sentenced to 12 years in prison. In 2005 Bakr was tried for conspiring to murder two former members of Jamaat, and was detained for questioning regarding a number of bombings in the capital. In 2007 he was tried for sedition based on a sermon he delivered two years earlier threatening rich Trinidadians who wouldn’t pay him a religious tithe. He was never found guilty of anything.
Then there was Bakr’s brush with the US criminal justice system. In 2007, three men were arrested for plotting to blow up fuel depots at New York’s JFK International Airport. One of the men had spent time at Bakr’s mosque; Bakr, who the FBI had been surveilling since 2001, was suspected of being linked to the crime, but he was never charged.
These days, his power has waned; Figueira calls him irrelevant. Bakr, for his part, seems content to simply sit back and level charges of corruption and narcotrade involvement at the government while casually predicting that the country will fall into anarchy. “It’s getting worse every day, and it’s going to explode,” he says of Trinidad’s crime and corruption.
Murders in Trinidad have risen from about 100 a year in the 1990s to about 450 a year today, one of the highest murder rates in the world. Many of the homicides are attributed to gang wars that rage in neighborhoods where Bakr once exerted the most influence.
And while Bakr may be “irrelevant,” some of his former lieutenants are alleged to be leading some of these powerful street gangs. Jaamat has fractured, with some members more interested in profiting from crime than in providing social services, and others simply no longer wishing to follow Bakr. “They were taught by me to be leaders,” he says. “So obviously if they are in the community, they could be leaders.”
For his part, Bakr claims that any Jaamat members involved with the drug trade are former Jaamat members. “Whoever was involved and did not play by the rules, we cast them out,” he says. “Why are we going to be doing all this work with these young children, and then selling drugs? You’re defeating the purpose.”
Why, I ask Bakr, were things so calm in Trinidad before the coup when now they’ve spiraled out of control? “Because I was in charge,” he answers. I stifle a laugh at first, but he’s not kidding. “I’m telling you, I was in charge before 1990, I was in charge of the ground.”
Inspector Alexander, who regularly does battle with the city’s gangs, seconds this idea. “He had a hold on so many defenders in the community that you could get the results that you were looking for,” he says. “Say, for instance, they stole your car. He could make some calls and get your car back — but then you have to ask yourself, who stole your car?”
A 2006 report by Zambelis, the analyst who studied Jamaat, described Bakr as a criminal kingpin and political kingmaker. Zambelis wrote that, “Over the years, the Jamaat has been tied to extensive criminal activity that includes narcotics and weapons trafficking, kidnapping for ransom — a growing problem in Trinidad and a favorite tactic of urban street gangs — money laundering, and extortion. In fact, many observers count the Jamaat alongside Trinidad's most notorious street gangs in terms of criminal prowess.”
Bakr doesn’t seem concerned with control these days; maybe it’s his old age or his health problems. He speaks proudly of his family, his four wives and many children, who he says are doctors, lawyers, and economists. One of his sons is a professional soccer player in Europe.
As we near the end of our time together, Bakr takes me to the back of the property to show me some new developments. He is hoping to get the wood shop up and running again, and he is working on building a supermarket. Much like his country, Bakr has been trying to recover ever since the coup.
And contrary to his proclamations of government failure and impending chaos, he maintains a bit of optimism for the future. "If you're going to live, then hope must run eternally, so I think or hope eternally that something will happen for the better,” he says. “What, I don’t know, but something. It cannot continue the way it is.”
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BAKR ORDERED OUT OF JAMAICA
By NALINEE SEELAL (Newsday)
JAMAAT al Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr was handcuffed, detained and ordered out of Jamaica together with one of his wives and his son Fuad, shortly after they arrived at the Norman Manley International Airport yesterday.
Bakr is said to have become boisterous on being told by Immigration officers that he was being denied entry. He was handcuffed and detained by Jamaican officials in an interrogation room at the airport for several hours.
Initial reports indicate that he, his wife and son were put on a flight that would have arrived at Piarco International Airport shortly after nine last night, although a more up-to-date report said the party would be held by Jamaican authorities overnight and they would be deported today. Newsday was informed that Bakr last night protested vehemently over being placed in the economy cabin, when he was escorted onto an aircraft for the return trip to Trinidad. His protestations were said to have created some confusion and delay in the flight departure out of Kingston and a decision was made to take him off the flight.
The latter report from Kingston stated that arrangements were being made to have Bakr placed in the Horizons Remand Centre in Kingston and if that were not possible he would be held in the Gun Court facilities, also in Kingston.
As to reasons for refusing Bakr entry, the Jamaican Passport, Immigration and Citizens Agency was said to have an Interpol watch list and persons on that list are not allowed to land in Jamaica. The Jamaica reports spoke of a long relationship Bakr had with former deposed Libyan leader Muammar Gadaffi who was killed a few years ago in a popular revolution in his country.
A statement from the Jamaican agency last evening said, however, the Jamaat al Muslimeen leader was refused leave to land in Jamaica under the country’s Immigration Restriction Commonwealth Citizens’ Act. The statement said the decision was in the interest of national security given the threat posed to public safety.
According to reports Bakr, his wife and son Fuad, the latter being the political leader of the New National Vision (NNV) party, left Trinidad on an Air Caribbean Flight at 8 am yesterday and arrived at 1 pm. They travelled into Jamaica to attend the 19th anniversary Louis Farakhan march scheduled to take place on Sunday at the National Arena in Kingston.
Sources revealed, on Bakr’s arrival at the Norman Manley Airport yesterday afternoon, immigration officers who scrutinised his passport sought guidance from other senior immigration officers as to whether to allow Bakr who led a failed coup in Trinidad on July 27, 1990, into Jamaica. After much deliberation officials decided to debar entry to Bakr and the two members of his family for security reasons. According to sources in Kingston, when officials informed Bakr of the decision, he began protesting loudly, accusing immigration authorities of unfairly targetting him. Immigration officers alerted police officers on duty at the airport and three heavily armed officers took Bakr into their custody and handcuffed him. His wife and son were not handcuffed, but allowed to accompany Bakr into the interrogation room.
Newsday was told, at 2.10 pm yesterday a handcuffed Bakr, along with his wife and son, were escorted to BW 457 by the three armed police officers and placed on the aircraft. This report, however, conflicted with other information that Bakr, his wife and son would be kept in Kingston overnight and put on a flight to Trinidad today.
Immigration sources told Newsday Bakr was not expected to be charged with any offence on his return to this country. Sources in Jamaica told Newsday that the Louis Farakhan march on Sunday is expected to attract hundreds of Muslims from all over the world and the Jamaican authorities have put systems in place to prevent persons deemed ‘undesirable’ from entering the country.
The authorities in Jamaica felt that there could be some security breaches if certain persons were allowed into the country and officials were given firm instructions to prevent this from happening.
Contacted yesterday Minister of National Security Gary Griffith, who was criticised by Jamaica’s Minister of Foreign Affairs AJ Nicholson and opposition spokesman on Foreign Affairs and foreign trade Edmund Bartlett, earlier this week for comments about the number of illegal Jamaicans living in Trinidad and Tobago, confirmed that Bakr had been denied entry into Jamaica.
A report on Bakr was also made to the Jamaican Foreign Affairs Minister, that country’s Minister of National Security as well as Jamaica’s Chief Immigration Officer and other senior law enforcement officials.
“It is the right of the Jamaican immigration authority to prevent entry to anyone they may deem a liability to the public purse regardless of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) regulations. The security of a nation is of paramount importance and if they (the Jamaican authorities) see someone who can affect their security it is their right to debar entry which is in line with what we are doing.”
Newsday attempted to reach both Bakr and his son Fuad on their cell phones but calls went unanswered. On September 30, 13 Jamaicans were denied entry into Trinidad and Tobago for various reasons. In an interview with Radio Jamaica news, one of the 13 persons denied entry, Irma Bunting, who said she travelled to Trinidad to visit a relative, complained about inhumane treatment by Immigration officers at Piarco. She said the officers were rude and denied them access to their luggage for clothes change and something to eat. She said they were made to sleep on the floor.
The deportation created concern in Jamaica, with the Jamaican Foreign Affairs Minister expressing ire over further comments by Griffith. However, Griffith has since invited the Jamaican Minister to Port-of-Spain for talks on why the 13 were denied entry.
Griffith had revealed recently that there were 19,000 illegal Jamaicans living in this country resulting in the loss of more than $1 billion in revenue to Trinidad and Tobago annually. In response the Jamaican minister said Griffith was “not getting it” and advised the Trinidad and Tobago Minister to refrain from making statements that could affect the investigation.
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http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20140623/lead/lead2.html
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Son says: Abu-Bakr not a threat (http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Son-says-Abu-Bakr-not-a-threat-279435392.html)
By the Multimedia Desk (T&T Express)
Story Created: Oct 16, 2014 at 11:46 AM ECT
FUAD Abu-Bakr, one of the sons of Jamaat al Muslimeen leader Yasim Abu Bakr, posted a cellphone photograph yesterday (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=722553831126010&set=a.458174324230630.96896.100001141998912&type=1&theater¬if_t=photo_reply) that appeared to show the 1990 insurrectionist being handcuffed at the Norma Manley International Airport in Jamaica on Wednesday.
On social media Fuad Abu-Bark also posted an appeal, writing : "Jamaican authorities earlier today trying to reach a decision regarding Imam Yasin Abu Bakr. "No one should be arbitrarily or vindictively refused entry or deported based on politically motivated discrimination." The Imam travelled to Jamaica today to visit his daughter who studies medicine at Mona Campus. He is also a guest of the Honorable Luis Farrakhan his long life (sic) friend who commemorates the million man march in Jamaica on Sunday. 73 years of age this Saturday, Imam Yasin, was extremely upset to be told on arrival that he, his wife and son were threats to national security and were to be sent back. The Imam frequently travels health permitting to a number of international destinations and has no convictions. After deliberations, the initial decision was reversed. His son and wife were allowed entry and they attempted to deport him alone. He refused sighting (sic) that he wanted clear information how he could be perceived as a threat to Jamaica. He stated that as a Caricom citizen he was willing to be carried to court to assert his rights to freedom of movement in Jamaica and the Caribbean. He asked to be detained and carried to court to prove he could not be viewed as, and is not a threat to Jamaica. He asked for proper proof or information to be presented. Immigration authorities are still struggling to deal with the matter".
As the matter escalated, Fuad Abu-Bakr wrote and shared: "How could Imam Yasin Abu Bakr 73 on Saturday coming with one of his wives and son on a trip for 6 days to visit his daughter at Mona Campus and as a guest at the commemoration of the million man march with Minister Luis Farrakan be a threat to national security in Jamaica? Who gave Jamaican authorities this information ? A man who has travelled to over 60 countries in the world and does not have a criminal conviction despite the political rhetoric. Is this a regional immigration issue? Is it the mischievous work of politicians in T&T or Jamaica?
Yasin Abu-Bakr was expected to be returned on a flight from Jamaica early today.
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Radical Trinidad Muslim leader refused landing in Jamaica
Government says plan being made to transport Abu Bakr home (http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Not-welcomed-_17754151)
BY KARYL WALKER Editor -- Crime/Court Desk walkerk@jamaicaobserver.com
Thursday, October 16, 2014 (Jamaica Observer)
LEADER of the radical Trinidadian Muslim movement Jamaat al Muslemeen, Yasin Abu Bakr, was refused landing in Jamaica yesterday after he was declared a threat to public safety.
Abu Bakr was detained at the Norman Manley International Airport after he arrived on a flight from the twin-island republic.
His detention was confirmed by deputy commissioner in charge of the crime portfolio Glenmore Hinds.
"Yes, I can confirm that," Hinds said in response to a query from the Jamaica Observer.
A release issued later by the Ministry of National Security explained that Abu Bakr was refused leave to land under Section 4 (1) h of the Immigration Restriction (Commonwealth Citizens) Act.
"The following Commonwealth citizens (not being persons deemed to belong to the island as defined by sub section (2) of section 2) are prohibited immigrants... any person who, from information or advice which in the opinion of the minister is reliable information or advice, is deemed by the minister to be an undesirable inhabitant of or visitor to the island. The decision to refuse leave to land is in the interest of national security, given the present threat posed to public safety. Plans are being made to return him to Trinidad and Tobago," the release stated.
Abu Bakr reportedly became heated and started shouting after he was not allowed to leave the airport. The Observer understands that the Caribbean Airlines crew expressed concern about him being allowed to board the return flight home.
Some time after he was whisked away by the police, who did not disclose where he would be held until he is escorted back to his homeland on a private plane.
In 1990, Abu Bakr led more than 100 of his followers in a coup attempt against the ANR Robinson-led National Alliance for Reconstruction Government.
The Muslim insurgents stormed the Trinidadian parliament and held Robinson and the majority of his Cabinet members hostage.
The radicals also took over the twin island's only television station and one of its radio stations.
Abu Bakr appeared on television and announced that the government had been overthrown and that he was in negotiations with the army.
Robinson was beaten and shot by the rebels after he urged the army to attack them.
The Trinidadian security forces sealed off the area around the house of parliament, popularly known as the Red House, and a state of emergency was declared.
After six days of negotiations, the rebels surrendered and were arrested.
They were, however, freed after an Appeals Court upheld an amnesty which was offered in exchange for their surrender.
Some 24 lives were lost during the coup attempt, including that of member of parliament Leo Des Vignes.
Controversy has followed the radical Muslim leader since. Eleven days after the shocking 9/11 terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York City, Abu Bakr was detained and interrogated by police at London's Heathrow Airport while on his way to an Islamic conference in Libya.
In that same year police in Florida uncovered a plot to smuggle 60 rifles and 10 submachine guns to the Jamaat in Trinidad.
Meanwhile, Jamaica's refusal to permit the controversial Trinidadian landing rights comes amidst confirmation from the twin island that a number of its nationals have been fighting alongside the terrorist group ISIS that has been waging a bloody attack on 'infidels' in Iraq and Syria.
It also comes on the heels of tension between the two countries after 13 Jamaicans were denied entry at the Piarco Airport, detained and sent home on September 30.
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Statement on Abu Bakr's deportation (http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Statement-on-Abu-Bakrs-deportation-279460822.html)
By the Multimedia Editor (T&T Express)
Story Created: Oct 16, 2014 at 2:36 PM ECT
On Wednesday 15th October 2014, Imam Yasin Abu Bakr, along with one of his wives and son boarded a flight from Trinidad and Tobago to Jamaica for a six-day visit to his daughter who is studying Medicine at Mona Campus.
The Imam, who will be turning 73 on Saturday, was also invited by the Honourable Minister Louis Farrakhan to be a guest at the 19th anniversary of the Million Man March will be commemorated in Kingston, Jamaica on Sunday 19th October 2014.
Upon arrival to the Norman Manley International Airport, the three were greeted by Jamaican Immigration Officials, who refused them leave to land in the country saying that they were all threats to Jamaica’s National Security.
After deliberations, the initial decision was reversed. The Imam’s wife and son were allowed entry into Jamaica, however the Imam was informed that he would be deported. The Imam refused to leave, stating that he wanted clear information on how he could be perceived as a threat to Jamaica.
He said as a Caricom citizen he was willing to be taken to court to assert his rights to freedom of movement in Jamaica and the Caribbean. He asked to be detained and taken to court to prove that he was not a threat to Jamaica’s National Security. He asked for proper proof or information to be presented.
“How could Imam Yasin Abu Bakr, a man who has travelled to over 60 countries in the world, a man who does not have a criminal conviction despite the political rhetoric, be a threat to national security in Jamaica? Who gave Jamaican authorities this information? Is this a regional immigration issue? Or is it the mischievous work of politicians in Trinidad and Tobago or Jamaica?” asked Fuad Abu Bakr.
Efforts by Dr. Iva Camille Gloudon, the Trinidad and Tobago High Commissioner to Jamaica and Minister Louis Farrakhan are ongoing. We thank them for all the efforts being made to assist.
The Imam boarded a private flight and returned to Trinidad just after 6 a.m. this morning. He is in good health and strong spirits and is resting comfortably at.
He is requesting the intervention of the relevant authorities in Trinidad and Tobago to clear up this matter.
Imam Yasin Abu Bakr said: "The statements and actions of politicians affect the citizens of their respective countries at home and abroad. These decisions were not made by immigration officials at the airport. They are in bad taste and it is unfortunate that I have been mixed into this mess at this point.
“It is embarrassingly incorrect to come to the conclusion in these circumstances that I would be a threat to Jamaica's National Security. I support freedom of movement in the region and employ a number of Jamaican nationals in Trinidad.
“My private school also caters to foreign nationals, a number of whom are Jamaican and find difficulty accessing education in the government run institutions. We will continue to make efforts to get to the bottom of this abuse and appropriate action will be taken in accordance.”
A press conference will be held at the Jamaat Al Muslimeen Headquarters, #1 Mucurapo Road St. James, Trinidad and Tobago at 2pm, Friday 17th October 2014. All members of the media are invited.
Public Relations Office
Jamaat Al Muslimeen Trinidad and Tobago
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About 4king time - how could a man who led an insurrection and in part was allegedly responsible for the government instability, and like people forget lives were lost!!!!!! Yet someone could say:
"How could Imam Yasin Abu Bakr, a man who has travelled to over 60 countries in the world, a man who does not have a criminal conviction despite the political rhetoric, be a threat to national security in Jamaica? Who gave Jamaican authorities this information? Is this a regional immigration issue? Or is it the mischievous work of politicians in Trinidad and Tobago or Jamaica?” asked Fuad Abu Bakr."
Only in TNT we could have individuals get away with thie height of threats to public safety and then have them live like some glorified high priest- only inTnT one of them same kind could turn around and coach a national team .
Man he lucky he even get to board ah plane - hail jah ma ca lol
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About 4king time - how could a man who led an insurrection and in part was allegedly responsible for the government instability, and like people forget lives were lost!!!!!! Yet someone could say:
"How could Imam Yasin Abu Bakr, a man who has travelled to over 60 countries in the world, a man who does not have a criminal conviction despite the political rhetoric, be a threat to national security in Jamaica? Who gave Jamaican authorities this information? Is this a regional immigration issue? Or is it the mischievous work of politicians in Trinidad and Tobago or Jamaica?” asked Fuad Abu Bakr."
Only in TNT we could have individuals get away with thie height of threats to public safety and then have them live like some glorified high priest- only inTnT one of them same kind could turn around and coach a national team .
Man he lucky he even get to board ah plane - hail jah ma ca lol
Maybe you haven't heard the other side of the story. Tell me, can you blame Yasin Abu Bakr for defending himself and his organization if they were being targeted and their premises being destroyed?
The Man Who Tried to Overthrow the Trinidad Government: Interview with Abu Bakr
https://www.youtube.com/v/NhJDsJuOweE
At his compound on the outskirts of Port of Spain, the man responsible for the only attempted militant Islamic overthrow of a Western government is smiling. "I've been charged with treason, I've been charged with sedition, with murder, conspiracy to murder, [stockpiling] guns...." Abu Bakr, the fiery 73-year-old leader of Jamaat al Muslimeen, rattles off the many accusations that the government of Trinidad and Tobago has leveled against him.
"Nothing has stuck, because it's fabricated," he continues. "They list all the charges in a book, and they just throw the book at me.... That's not prosecution, that's persecution!"
Bakr has mellowed a bit in his old age, but he still relishes the opportunity to serve as a thorn in the side of the government with whom he has clashed for decades. Depending on which local you ask, "The Jamaat" is either a jihadi group, a vast criminal organization, an invaluable community resource providing jobs and social services to Trinidad's disadvantaged, or a combination of all three.
But everyone agrees that the coup that Bakr led in 1990 — which held the state hostage for six days, unleashed widespread looting and chaos, and resulted in 24 deaths and the shooting of the prime minister — changed the country forever.
Documentary: Kaiso for July 27 (1990 Attempted Coup in Trinidad & Tobago)
https://www.youtube.com/v/xybbUbxHOK4
A "musical" documentary looking at the attempted coup in Trinidad & Tobago in 1990 by a small maverick Islamic group called Jamaat al Muslimeen, led by Abu Bakr.
Incorporating interviews, song, street theatre, archive footage, visual poetry, vox pops and analysis, this impressionistic film tries to makes sense of the six days of madness that engulfed the Caribbean island.
Directed by Karen Martinez.
Channel 4 UK (1991)
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Jamaica Nat Security Minister is really a funny man oui. Listen to his explanation of sending back Abu at a high expensive cost on a private jet.
http://www.tv6tnt.com/sevenpm-news/-JAMAICAN-NATIONAL-SECURITY-MINISTER-ON-BAKR-280001922.html (http://www.tv6tnt.com/sevenpm-news/-JAMAICAN-NATIONAL-SECURITY-MINISTER-ON-BAKR-280001922.html)
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Maybe you haven't heard the other side of the story. Tell me, can you blame Yasin Abu Bakr for defending himself and his organization if they were being targeted and their premises being destroyed?
Was actually waiting to hear it at the commission of inquiry........
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Bunting: Abu Bakr's $4m jet was insurance premium (http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Bunting--Abu-Bakr-s--4m-jet-was-insurance-premium_17783077)
Wednesday, October 22, 2014 (Jamaica Observer)
PETER Bunting yesterday said that he regards the $4 million spent to send home Trinidadian Muslim leader, Yasin Abu Bakr, by a private jet last Wednesday, as a home insurance premium.
"I regard this expenditure the same way I do a home insurance policy. We regret having to pay the premium when nothing happens, but we are really happy to have that insurance in place when a hurricane hits," Bunting told the House of Representatives in a statement.
The national security minister was responding to criticisms about the cost of sending the Trinidadian home.
"All things considered, this seemed the best course of action immediately available to the Government," Bunting said.
He said that an immediate attempt was made to return Abu Bakr on a Caribbean Airlines (CAL) flight to Trinidad. However, the radical Muslim leader refused to co-operate and had to be accompanied by immigration and security personnel.
"He was placed in an economy class seat, but became boisterous, unco-operative and refused to comply, citing medical issues among other reasons," the minister said.
He explained that CAL authorities indicated that it would be a breach of security protocol to have a non-compliant passenger fly in the first class cabin which, in any event, was already booked.
He said that the flight was unwilling to depart, given Abu Bakr's display of resistance, and the entire flight was at risk of being cancelled as the other passengers became increasingly concerned.
Bunting next noted that Section 28 of the Immigration Restriction (Commonwealth Citizen) Act provides that, in these circumstances, it is the duty of the State that refuses a person leave to land to bear the cost of the return of the individual from its public funds.
The minister said that it was "clearly in the interest of national security to not allow Abu Bakr to land in Jamaica and to remove him from Jamaica at the earliest opportunity".
Abu Bakr had come to Jamaica to attend the 19th anniversary celebration of the Nation of Islam's Million Man March.
Bunting said his ministry's security planning did not recognise the Nation of Islam as representing any threat. However, it considered the possibility that the occasion might be used as a cover for others to enter Jamaica for purposes detrimental to national security.
The minister listed a number of violent incidents to which he linked Abu Bakr and the Jamat Al Muslimeen, including the 1990 coup in Trinidad and Tobago in which then Prime Minister ANR Robinson and other parliamentarians were taken hostage.
"While the cost of Abu Bakr's removal by a private charter was significant, it pales in comparison to what the attempted coup d'etat cost Trinidad in 1990, or what a terrorist incident would cost Jamaica today, or even with the billions of dollars that the mishandling of the Christopher 'Dudus' Coke extradition cost this country in 2010," he stated.
Bunting said there was a possibility that there are now connections between radicals and militants in Trinidad, and some of the most dangerous and ruthless terrorist organisations in the world.
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Griffith to Abu Bakr: The evil that men doeth live after them... (http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Griffith-to-Abu-Bakr-The-evil-that-men-doeth-live-after-them-280050672.html)
...“Privy Council rulings have nothing to do with the views that a country would have of the character of a man and its right of the country to act accordingly to protect its sovereignty if it perceives that such a person can be deemed a threat
By Susan Mohammed susan.mohammed@trinidadexpress.com
Story Created: Oct 22, 2014 at 10:36 AM ECT (T&T Express)
“THE EVIL men doeth, live after them and at times even while they are still alive”.
This was a line contained in a statement issued on Tuesday by Minster of National Security Gary Griffith following the barring of Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr from Jamaica last week.
Griffith, in the 12 paragraph statement entitled “Abu Bakr needs to face reality : don’t blame Trinidad and Tobago for your past actions”, said the decision to debar Bakr should be applauded, and emphasised that national security takes precedence over everything else.
“The decision by the Jamaican authorities to debar entry of individuals deemed a threat to its national security should be expected and applauded, as such firm actions assist with the strengthening of our regional society. These actions are consistent with a recent similar stance taken by our Immigration officials, and also emphasized the position that national security takes precedence over everything else. Such appropriate actions to monitor and control movement of persons entering a country cannot and should not be seen as ‘muddying waters or affecting integration’, “ stated Griffith.
And in response on Tuesday, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said that she endorsed Griffith’s comments.
“Those matters are matters of national security and matters of immigration. I am guided by the comments made by the honorable Minister of National Security and I endorse his comments”, said Persad-Bissessar “I noticed that someone from Guyana was also banned entry and you cannot say that it was comments made in Guyana that caused that person to be banned. Jamaica has its own national security and I would want to believe they acted upon that rather than any words that were said in Trinidad and Tobago.”
The National Security minister said in his statement that currently there seems to be a misunderstanding by a few that the CARICOM Single Market (CSME) provides the opportunity for anyone to be allowed entry to any CARICOM State and not be prevented full access.
Griffith said persons can be denied entry if “a. they are deemed undesirable, such as being a threat to national security, or b. they are a liability to the public purse : no employment, no skills, no recommendation, no funds, no assets, no stable place of abode, etc.”
“If persons are denied entry for such grounds those decisions should be respected by all, similar to what was done by Jamaican officials with respect to Mr Abu Bakr ad Mr Gerard Perreira a few days ago. It is the right of the Jamaican authorities to deny entry to anyone who may be deemed a liability to its public purse or a threat to national security.”, stated Griffith.
“Bakr’s statement that Jamaican officials were alluding to the fact that it was because of the Trinidad and Tobago Government that he was denied entry – is a ‘red herring’ made up by the machinations of someone who refuses entry to face reality. Mr Perreira, a Guyanese national who was also denied entity confirms that the point the Jamaican authorities have taken a firm, yet mandatory stance on ensuring that the security of their nation as they interpret it”.
The minister of National Security also said that Bakr’s “failed plan” while attempting to explain his side with misleading quotes from the Jamaican authorities “is indeed unfortunate as he, made a poor attempt of using a Jamaican accent, which served no other purpose than being disrespectful and insulting to the Jamaican authorities”.
“The decision of a nation to secure its sovereignty must respected”, Griffith said. “If anyone attempts to openly attack the democracy of a country and deliberately use violence to overturn a Government and innocent people are killed, resulting in both regional and international notoriety for a country, then one can at times expect some measure of resistance at any port of entry in a democratic state”.
The statement continued: “Privy Council rulings have nothing to do with the views that a country would have of the character of a man and its right of the country to act accordingly to protect its sovereignty if it perceives that such a person can be deemed a threat to national security. It must be underscored that denial of entry into a sovereign, democratic country means that there was ample rationale for such action as evidenced by that country’s national security apparatus. It is evident in certain scenarios that persons must look within their past, and comments that they make in the present, to understand the impetus taken by the Jamaican authorities to justify why someone who may have threatened his own country’s democracy has been deemed a ‘threat to another territory’s national safety and security’, “.
“The evil men doeth, live after them and at times even while they are still alive”, the statement ended.
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Imam Yasin Abu Bakr being interviewed live on The Street 919 FM right now tune in: http://www.thestreet919fm.com/
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Hafizool offers to help Griffith fight crime.
T&T Guardian Reports.
‘I have multiculture’
Former 1990 coup commissioner Dr Hafizool Ali Mohammed wants to return to Trinidad to join National Security Minister Gary Griffith in the fight against crime. Yesterday, Mohammed, a former US veteran as well as chief executive officer and president of US security firm PEOSYS, offered his services to Griffith in an e-mail.
His correspondence comes on the heels of Griffith’s announcement on Friday that former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and Police Commissioner of the City of New York, William J Bratton, will be coming to T&T to assist in the fight against crime. The minister told reporters that Giuliani and Bratton would help improve the dismal detection rate of the police service.
Yesterday, Mohammed in his brief e-mail to Griffith, a copy of which was obtained by the Sunday Guardian, said: “I am still here and ready to assist. “Please remember, I have more than 40 years of national security experience. It’s great to have these guys (Giuliani and Bratton), but I have something they don’t have, multiculture.”
Mohammed was part of the Commission of Enquiry into the 1990 attempted coup headed by chairman Sir David Simmons. The other members of the inquiry included Barbadian jurist Sir Richard Cheltenham and former independent senators Dr Eastlyn McKenzie and Diana Mahabir-Wyatt.
Questions were raised about Mohammed’s qualifications during the commission since he had obtained his doctorate of science degree in international relations from Atlantic International University which various Web sites had described as a “diploma mill.” However, Mohammed’s vast wealth of military knowledge has not been questioned. Mohammed, in the e-mail, reminded Griffith that he knew how the people of T&T thought “from top to bottom.” He asked Griffith to “give it a serious thought.”
Mohammed said he had a vested interest in T&T since he had families and friends here. He believes that he will be a valuable asset. “My experience include representing the US at NATO, where I was instrumental in preventing further genocide and ethnic cleansing. My 2011 contract with the United Arab Emirates assisted in securing a nation from 8 neighbours, some friendly and some not so friendly. I am a veteran of Desert Storm,” he added in the e-mail.
Mohammed also indicated that he would not “charge as much” as Giuliani and Bratton. A text message was sent to Griffith for a response to Mohammed’s offer. However, up to late yesterday he had not responded.
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Likely the Express obtained the e-mail from ...?
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Dana Seetahal murder probe
By Alexander Bruzual
SWOOP ON BAKR
Police yesterday executed an early morning surprise swoop on insurrectionist Yasin Abu Bakr and detained him as well as ten other people for questioning in connection with the murder of senior counsel Dana Seetahal.
At around 12.05 a.m. on May 4, 2014, Seetahal was assassinated while driving her Volkswagen Touareg SUV towards her apartment at One Woodbrook Place, Port of Spain. She was shot multiple times and died at the scene.
The detentions were made during an exercise at 4 a.m. that was carefully orchestrated and carried out in St James, Arima and Cocorite by several law enforcement agencies and known only to a few selected police officers.
Among the ten arrested and still in custody are Abu Bakr, two former Life Sport coordinators, a well-known Port of Spain gang leader, as well as the wife, father and brother of an incarcerated Carapo Muslim leader and three gang members.
Police sources say from midnight Sunday, officers of the Guard and Emergency Branch, Special Branch, the Western Division, the Northern Division and the Criminal Gang and Intelligence Unit took up strategic positions in close vicinity of the homes of those held.
But it was not until 4 am that law enforcement got the nod to proceed and detain the individuals for questioning.
The officers, upon knocking on Abu Bakr's St James home, executed a search warrant for arms and ammunition.
However, nothing was found.
Abu Bakr was then detained and taken to the Central Police Station in Port of Spain to be questioned by ASP Rampersad.
Abu Bakr, sources added, was being kept at the station to be questioned for a variety of offences, but specifically, any potential involvement in Seetahal's death.
Sources say following a meeting with his seniors, Rampersad will now question Abu Bakr today at 1p.m.
Law enforcement authorities were hoping to build a case that could point to conspiracy to murder based on telephone recordings and other vital “scientific information” they have gathered during the course of their inquiries, sources said.
Detainees at separate police stations
The other individuals detained will be questioned today by Cpl Jones of the CGIU.
All the detainees remain in police custody at separate police stations including Barataria,San Juan,Tunapuna and Arima.
Abu Bakr was visited by one of his wives Indrani around 3 pm yesterday while other family members were denied permission by the police to visit him.
A challenging investigation
Acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams told TV6 News yesterday that the operation was ongoing and he would not say anything until it had concluded, but did allude to the “Seetahal investigation” being a challenging one when he spoke in Tobago on Sunday prior to Bakr's arrest.
'Lock up somebody!'
Second in in command at the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen and welfare officer Kala Aki-Bua, believes that the entire incident was nothing more than “trumped up” charges, as law enforcement look to further persecute the Muslim organisation.
“The population is crying out. They want to know something, not only about Dana Seetahal's murder, but look how much murders are unsolved in this country. The population is crying out 'hold somebody! lock up somebody!' and we are a scapegoat,” Aki Bua said.
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DANA SUSPECTS QUIZZED
... while Bakr spends another night in police custody
By Alexander Bruzual (Express).
Insurrectionist Yasin Abu Bakr and eight other members of the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen spent a second night under police guard at various police stations throughout the country last night as investigators continue their enquiries into the murder of senior counsel Dana Seetahal.
However, a key suspect in the murder and his male relative were officially cautioned by police yesterday afternoon on their alleged involvement in Seetahal's murder.
The Express was reliably informed the key suspect and his relative, who are both incarcerated pending an ongoing trial, were removed from their cells at the Remand Yard in Arouca yesterday morning and taken to the Arouca Police Station where they were cautioned by police in relation to Seetahal's murder.
Both relatives were informed they were being treated as suspects in Seetahal's murder and were asked if they wished to make any official statements on the allegation, sources said.
They were also informed of their legal rights and privileges. All of this was allegedly done in the absence of the attorneys representing the two men.
After further questions were posed to both men, they were returned to the Arouca prison.
Not a single question on Dana
However, the Express was also reliably informed that Bakr, who is being kept at the Central Police Station in Port of Spain, was interrogated for over two hours by officers yesterday afternoon but was not asked “a single question” about Seetahal.
“The interview started roughly about 2 p.m. and went on for about two hours before they took a break. It was during this break that Bakr asked what was going on exactly. Because he had yet to be asked a single question on whether he had any direct involvement in Seetahal's murder or, at the very least, if he had any knowledge of an assassination attempted against the senior counsel. He wasn't even cautioned on the matter up to that point,” a reliable source told the Express yesterday evening.
However, it was expected questions relating to the senior counsel would have been asked when investigators resumed their interrogation last night.
The Express understands when the interrogation ended, Bakr refused to sign off on it.
Bakr was also supported by a group of Jamaat members who gathered on the pavement opposite the police station yesterday morning from as early as 8 a.m. and did not disperse up to last night.
Law enforcement authorities are hoping to build a case that could point to conspiracy to murder, based on telephone recordings and other vital “scientific information” they have gathered during the course of their enquiries, sources said.
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Abu Bakr Released, To Take Legal Action
The State stands to face a massive lawsuit from former insurrectionist Yassin Abu Bakr.
The police have failed in their attempt to link him to the assassination of state prosecutor Dana Seetahal.
http://www.tv6tnt.com/sevenpm-news/-Abu-Bakr-Released-To-Take-Legal-Action--2942-318230351.html
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Charges for detained Jamaat 7 by weekend
By Derek Achong (GUardian).
Investigators involved in the probe into Dana Seetahal’s murder are said to be almost finished with their investigation and may be ready to lay charges by this evening or over the weekend.
Leader of the Jamaat al Muslimeen Yasin Abu Bakr and veteran member Hassan Ali were released from police custody on Wednesday after being detained for two days by police for questioning.
As Abu Bakr and Hassan have been released, members of the organisation yesterday turned their attention to seven members who remain detained in relation to Seetahal’s killing.
Scores of members of the organisation turned up at the Piarco Police Station last night to hold vigils where the detainees are being kept, in replication of similar action done outside the Central Police Station in Port-of-Spain before the organisation’s leader Abu Bakr was released on Wednesday afternoon.
In a brief telephone interview yesterday, a Jamaat member said he and other members organised the protest action because police were withholding information on the detainees from their families.
“We not staying quiet. In this country you have to make noise for the right thing to be done,” the man, who asked to remain unidentified said, as he claimed the detainees already had been held for 72 hours without police indicating whether they will be charged or not.
“We don’t know what is going on. One brother went to the Besson Street Police Station to drop clothes for his brother and the police insult him and run him,” the man said.
The detainees are Hamid Ali, brother of suspected gang leader Rajaee Ali, one of Rajaee’s wives Stacy Griffith, brothers Stephen and Devon Cummings, Ricardo Stewart, Keston Seales and Deon Peters, who are all members of the Jamaat’s Carapo outpost.
Rajaee, his brother Ishmael and Jamaat member Garett Wiseman have also been identified as persons of interest. The three men are on remand at the Maximum Security Prison, Arouca.
The Alis are there after being charged with conspiring to murder radio announcer Kevaughn “Lerbz” Savory in December last year. Wiseman is on remand on an unrelated charge.
The Ali brothers’ father, Hassan, was also arrested during the police operation on Monday but was freed along with Abu Bakr.
The T&T Guardian understands that when they were interviewed on Wednesday, they were informed of some of the evidence police had gathered in the months following Seetahal’s assassination on May 4, last year.
She was ambushed and shot dead as she made her way home after a night at the Ma Pau casino, Woodbrook.
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Bakr: A rumour to destabilise T&T
By Denyse Renne (Express)
MEMO-LEAK
Who leaked a confidential memo from the Special Branch head to “All Field Section”, stating information had been obtained that the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen was planning to launch several attacks in the country, among them on the Prime Minister's private residence?
Acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams yesterday ordered an investigation to find out who did it after the memo surfaced on social media.
He has mandated his deputy, Glenn Hackett, to oversee the probe and submit a report by next Monday.
There was uncertainty the memo was real at first, but at a news conference at Police Headquarters in Port of Spain hours later, Williams said it was authentic.
He however said the content of it was not verified.
The memo, dated July 28, 2015, headlined “Jamaat al Muslimeen—Activities Of”, stated: “Information has been obtained that the Jamaat AL Muslimeen (JAM) is planning activities inimical to the State. They are said to be moving arms and ammunition to North and San Fernando.
“Reportedly, they are planning to target the Prime Minister's private residence Philippine and Siparia. Moreover, they are also planning a series of co-ordinated attack and will attempt to free eleven persons charged with the murder of Senior Counsel Dana Seetahal and those charged in the Vindra Naipaul-Coolman case.
“Additionally, they will target police stations that have been carrying out operations against. These activities are likely to commence immediately. You are required to determine the veracity of this information and report your findings instantly.”
For Special Branch eyes only
Williams said an investigation has been launched into the source of the leak, which was prepared for the eyes of officers attached to the highly classified Special Branch (SB) unit.
The top cop said he became aware of the memo's circulation in the public domain via social media.
“I wish to confirm at this point in time that the memorandum is in fact a memorandum generated from the SB. It is one which is signed for the head of SB by an ASP,” he said.
The document was prepared and signed off by acting ASP Hercules.
The Special Branch is headed by Sen Supt Lee while overall control of the unit lies with Asst Commissioner of Police Erla Christopher.
Williams said “the memorandum was developed and circulated to all the Field Section within the SB yesterday (Tuesday), around 6.16 p.m. It was intended to be a communication for a particular course of action to be taken by the Field Section, based on some info which reached the SB, what some people may describe as a rumour”.
He said it was critical any information reaching the SB needed to be investigated, “and there should be some verification of the information or rumour. That's the exact action taken by the SB to verify the information to identify whether there is any merit by generated intelligence, and then on the completion of that process, they would communicate to the head of the Police Service and to the head of Government...the Prime Minister”.
He said in this instance, the information being circulated “was not verified and there is no support to the rumour, and the SB would not have communicated that rumour to the Commissioner of Police, nor the head of Government”.
Nothing unique
Asked whether any officers attached to the Special Branch will be transferred from the unit, pending the investigation, Williams said: “I can't speak to the issue of transfer at this point in time. This particular matter, the time limit set for an investigative report to be generated by Monday, that's a directive given by the DCP of Crime which is the line investigative officer who is in charge of all the crime and investigative units, and I am sure once it is completed, appropriate action will be taken.”
Stating the issuance of the internal memo was nothing unique, Williams labelled the memo as being part of the normal process of the Special Branch when information is received.
“I would confirm (the memo) is the normal process of the SB, based on any rumour they would have received.
“It is nothing unique and nothing special.
“What is unique in this particular instance is that a communiqué like that, which is limited to the officers of SB, would have reached out into the public domain,” he said.
Adding such a breach of confidentiality could only have been effectively facilitated by a Special Branch member, Williams said, “An investigation has effectively been launched to verify which member of the SB has been responsible for that breach of confidence and confidentiality, and the appropriate action will be take in accordance with the law.”
(http://www.trinidadexpress.com/storyimage/TT/20150729/LOCAL/150729390/EP/1/1/EP-150729390.jpg&W=730&imageversion=Article)
alleged target: The private residence of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar located in Phillipine.
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All this is more foolishness from the PP government trying to mislead the gullible.
The government is trying to provoke the Muslims to react so they can have an excuse to declare a SoE and so postpone the upcoming general elections which they seem more and more likely to lose as the T&T population turns against them for their 5 years of shameless corruption.
The PP is not only corrupt to the core but have been a creeping dictatorship government for the past 5 years who are now acting like a full blown monster dictatorship with full control of the media etc using state funds generated from overpaid contracts to their friends and sponsors from kickbacks.
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The government is trying to provoke the Muslims to react so they can have an excuse to declare a SoE and so postpone the upcoming general elections which they seem more and more likely to lose as the T&T population turns against them for their 5 years of shameless corruption.
I am real tired of people using the "Provoke Muslims" line. Since when does the Jamaat represent Muslims in T&T? The Bakr duo (Yasin and Faud) have been using this catch phrase a lot in the media. Yet the Jamaat at best has about 1,000-2,000 members, probably a lot less in reality. You know how many Muslims there are in T&T? Over 60,000.
The largest (by far) Muslim group in T&T is ASJA. The oldest is the Tackveeyatul. There are several Muslim organizations that are members of the IRO. You know which group isn't one of them? The Jamaat. Whether the PP has an agenda against the Jamaat or not, to say that actions against them is an action against all Muslims is absolutely ridiculous and laughable.
The Jamaat is most certainly not the voice of Islam in T&T, not even close.
The PP is not only corrupt to the core but have been a creeping dictatorship government for the past 5 years who are now acting like a full blown monster dictatorship with full control of the media etc using state funds generated from overpaid contracts to their friends and sponsors from kickbacks.
You have just described every government we've had since independence man, hell even during colonialism. Partisan politics just continues to hold our country back. Do people not remember Johnny O’Halloran in the PNM days? Tesoro? Or Francis Prevatt? Is Calder Hart and the UDECOTT fiasco forgotten already from the previous PNM administration? Have we forgotten how Manning uses dictatorial policies to censor Rowley/Valley and others that disagreed with him? Or have we also already forgotten about all the bacchanal of the UNC in the 90s with the Airport construction and the rampant corruption and kickbacks with some of their mega-projects?
In terms of dictatorships, do we not remember what Eric Williams publicly said about indo-Trinidadians? The drawing of constitutional maps that for decades minimized the number of indo-Trinidadian constituencies despite their population size? The use of voting machines pre-independence that were very controversial and allowed Eric Williams to draft the constitution without opposition consultation?
Different parties but it's all the same crap, and we keep exchanging one for the other repeatedly.
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The government is trying to provoke the Muslims to react so they can have an excuse to declare a SoE and so postpone the upcoming general elections which they seem more and more likely to lose as the T&T population turns against them for their 5 years of shameless corruption.
I am real tired of people using the "Provoke Muslims" line. Since when does the Jamaat represent Muslims in T&T? The Bakr duo (Yasin and Faud) have been using this catch phrase a lot in the media. Yet the Jamaat at best has about 1,000-2,000 members, probably a lot less in reality. You know how many Muslims there are in T&T? Over 60,000.
The largest (by far) Muslim group in T&T is ASJA. The oldest is the Tackveeyatul. There are several Muslim organizations that are members of the IRO. You know which group isn't one of them? The Jamaat. Whether the PP has an agenda against the Jamaat or not, to say that actions against them is an action against all Muslims is absolutely ridiculous and laughable.
The Jamaat is most certainly not the voice of Islam in T&T, not even close.
The PP is not only corrupt to the core but have been a creeping dictatorship government for the past 5 years who are now acting like a full blown monster dictatorship with full control of the media etc using state funds generated from overpaid contracts to their friends and sponsors from kickbacks.
You have just described every government we've had since independence man, hell even during colonialism. Partisan politics just continues to hold our country back. Do people not remember Johnny O’Halloran in the PNM days? Tesoro? Or Francis Prevatt? Is Calder Hart and the UDECOTT fiasco forgotten already from the previous PNM administration? Have we forgotten how Manning uses dictatorial policies to censor Rowley/Valley and others that disagreed with him? Or have we also already forgotten about all the bacchanal of the UNC in the 90s with the Airport construction and the rampant corruption and kickbacks with some of their mega-projects?
In terms of dictatorships, do we not remember what Eric Williams publicly said about indo-Trinidadians? The drawing of constitutional maps that for decades minimized the number of indo-Trinidadian constituencies despite their population size? The use of voting machines pre-independence that were very controversial and allowed Eric Williams to draft the constitution without opposition consultation?
Different parties but it's all the same crap, and we keep exchanging one for the other repeatedly.
don't miss the point here, what he is saying is that this government who campaigned on making trinidad and tobago better is now doing the total opposite and is making things worst than it has ever been. so yes there was corruption on the path of former regimes and that is scarcely a secret, but to use that as a clause for unc misconduct is a cop out in itself and not to mention disingenuous. because two wrongs dont make one right.
on the case of the jammat you also missed the point big time. what he alluded to was the fact that the government was using all available stops to prolong their stay even if it means riling up the public into a frenzy by using the jammat as the bogie man. he also used the term muslim in a very broad manner, after all the jammat al muslimeen are muslims and they might as well be the voice of all muslims in trinidad especially when most muslim organizations in trinidad are mum on the issue of social inequalities and injustice and operate as a traditional organization rather than an active one. people like sharaz ali and the ASJA loves to distance themselves and their community from yasin abubakar only when it's convenient for him/them, but when his community is faced with a dilemma then he remembers that there are other muslims on the island and cries out for muslim solidarity. there is an imam in trinidad who goes by the name of imran hosein, this man is ten times more radical and controversial than abu bakar and is known world wide, yet no one in trinidad hears about him, do you know why?
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don't miss the point here, what he is saying is that this government who campaigned on making trinidad and tobago better is now doing the total opposite and is making things worst than it has ever been. so yes there was corruption on the path of former regimes and that is scarcely a secret, but to use that as a clause for unc misconduct is a cop out in itself and not to mention disingenuous. because two wrongs dont make one right.
Every government campaigns the same way. Rowley is campaigning on saving us from the PP. The PP campaigned on saving us from Manning. Manning campaigned on saving us from Panday. No one campaigns to raid the treasury, but they all do it.
I'm most certainly not justifying the wrongs. I don't necessarily agree that they are the "making things worst than it has ever been", given we have had endemic corruptions since the start. Honestly, on the scale of corruption, I don't think anyone has beat what O'Halloran orchestrated against this country yet. On the scale of serious crime, the escalation rate of murders and kidnapping around 2004-2008 is still unprecedented. In terms of media BS and plots, let's not forget when Regiment missiles and cocaine were found in Sadiq Baksh's water tank in 2002 and the accusations that it was a plot to bring down the UNC.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
We have short term memory in our politics.
on the case of the jammat you also missed the point big time.
I didn't miss it, just completely disagreed.
what he alluded to was the fact that the government was using all available stops to prolong their stay even if it means riling up the public into a frenzy by using the jammat as the bogie man. he also used the term muslim in a very broad manner, after all the jammat al muslimeen are muslims and they might as well be the voice of all muslims in trinidad especially when most muslim organizations in trinidad are mum on the issue of social inequalities and injustice and operate as a traditional organization rather than an active one.
This is precisely what I disagree with. They aren't a "might as well be the voice", they don't represent the religion in T&T. You are suggesting that a group that has a membership of less than 3% of all Muslims in T&T representing their voice? That's ridiculous man.
Frankly in my opinion the Jamaat could be Mormon, Catholic, Shouter Baptist, or any religion and it doesn't change what they do. They're an organization that has been both empowered, vilified, and used by both the PNM/UNC when it was convenient for them. You don't remember when Manning at one time referred to Bakr as a community leader (and met with him), then when public opinion changed they continued moving against their assets and carrying out public legal action against them.
The Jamaat has been given power to run their "operations" by the governments of the last 20 years. Frankly in my mind this has nothing to do with their religion. And our police and justice system has a complete inability to effectively tackle organized crime groups, like the Jamaat and others.
people like sharaz ali and the ASJA loves to distance themselves and their community from yasin abubakar only when it's convenient for him/them, but when his community is faced with a dilemma then he remembers that there are other muslims on the island and cries out for muslim solidarity. there is an imam in trinidad who goes by the name of imran hosein, this man is ten times more radical and controversial than abu bakar and is known world wide, yet no one in trinidad hears about him, do you know why?
Imran Hosein doesn't have a local context, it's pretty clear why he's different. The Jamaat has been actively involved trying to overthrow the government, running blocks, supporting one party or another in elections, being handed and running URP/CEPEP/Lifesport/other contracts, etc. They're far more relevant to local politics than an imam writing books or publishing sermons about Islam with a global context. It's like comparing Heather Headley to Machel.
Again, this is not about religion in my opinion and I strongly disagree with the "attack on Muslims" narrative.
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R45 you are being disingenuous once again and fail to capture the gist of the argument. this is not about UNC or PNM it's about incompetence and bad behavior in government. why are you so willing to give these people a pass, could it be that you have interest in the government? i get the feeling that you are a UNC apologist, and to what avail? on the issue of john O'holleran, the prime minister and his cabinet had nothing to do with that. this crook took 3 billion and ran off, how could that be the misgivings of a whole government? on the very same note we were a very young country then and in the infancy of nationhood and was trying to find our legs, but now we are 50 years on our own and a 40 year old republic. this sort of misgivings is far less forgivable now than then and especially after spending 400 billion with very little to show for it.
look i am not going to stay here in a prolong discussion about muslims in trinidad. i have nothing to gain thereby simply because i am an agnostic and don't actually care for religious debates especially on whom is more legit than whom to be called faithful followers or deviators. my point was that persad bissessar was in bed with the jammat at one time or another and decided when she was elected that it wasn't a good idea anymore and decided to distance her self, and continued to use the jammat as a scapegoat in her ploy to frighten the public into a frenzy in an attempt to get around the legal process. i couldn't care less if abu bakar was a jesuit priest masquerading as a grand imam. whatever his previous actions were with former prime ministers my point is that the constitution and the legal process of lawful governance was dragged through the dirt by the prime minister and the fact that she is willing to do anything to stay afloat without considering the consequence that could fall on the nation is quite worrisome.
and don't be so quick to condemn abu bakar and his army. i remember clearly that were quite a few muslims involved in the drug trade and very prominent ASJA members both in el seccoro and aranguez. and to some extent there are many muslims who involve themselves in bid rigging, money laundering, selling alcohol which is a big no no in that particular religion, muslims were also involved in human trafficking, kidnapping of their rivals and all manner of illicit gain yet you have failed to mention that, there is a word for that sort of convenient thinking, i believe it starts with the letter H. in my opinion they are both six of one and half a dozen of the other with both sides having well intentioned devotes and miscreants. yes there are bad apples in the jammat but there are also good people who try to hold fast to the islamic tenents and here you are pulling them down only because they don't belong to your group. human nature is incredibly volatile and whatever they are into is always the right path, go figure.
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R45 you are being disingenuous once again and fail to capture the gist of the argument. this is not about UNC or PNM it's about incompetence and bad behavior in government. why are you so willing to give these people a pass, could it be that you have interest in the government? i get the feeling that you are a UNC apologist, and to what avail? on the issue of john O'holleran, the prime minister and his cabinet had nothing to do with that. this crook took 3 billion and ran off, how could that be the misgivings of a whole government? on the very same note we were a very young country then and in the infancy of nationhood and was trying to find our legs, but now we are 50 years on our own and a 40 year old republic. this sort of misgivings is far less forgivable now than then and especially after spending 400 billion with very little to show for it.
Nah I'm definitely not an apologist, and I have no interest in the current one. I do see why you might think that from my tone, but I assure you I am not. I just am getting tired of the whole Kamla is the worst shit that's getting posted everywhere. Frankly I think this government is bad, but I'm not convinced that they're any worse than the ones we had before. I think there are similarities in what you're saying re: O'holleran and the current gov't. I think some of the ministers around Kamla (ala "Cabal") are definitely toxic and crooks, but probably not all of them. Same for when Manning was in power. I didn't like Manning personally, but honestly thought he had the best interests in mind despite being misguided and having too many grandiose ideas. That said, there were real crooks in his administration as well. Same for Panday, who allowed his financiers and certain people in his cabinet to run amok with the treasury. I think Eric Williams was an incredibly smart man, but he was too power hungry and racially divisive.
I see no difference really between then and now. I don't really buy the we are an older nation now argument though.
look i am not going to stay here in a prolong discussion about muslims in trinidad. i have nothing to gain thereby simply because i am an agnostic and don't actually care for religious debates especially on whom is more legit than whom to be called faithful followers or deviators. my point was that persad bissessar was in bed with the jammat at one time or another and decided when she was elected that it wasn't a good idea anymore and decided to distance her self, and continued to use the jammat as a scapegoat in her ploy to frighten the public into a frenzy in an attempt to get around the legal process. i couldn't care less if abu bakar was a jesuit priest masquerading as a grand imam. whatever his previous actions were with former prime ministers my point is that the constitution and the legal process of lawful governance was dragged through the dirt by the prime minister and the fact that she is willing to do anything to stay afloat without considering the consequence that could fall on the nation is quite worrisome.
I agree with you. But I do think the actions of the prior administrations is relevant within the context that we want to vote the PP out... but to vote back in a party that did the EXACT same thing. What are we really expecting to accomplish?
Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is madness.
You should read some of the Wikileaks cables between the US Embassy and the State Dept. There are several published around the time of the JFK Terror Plot. At that time, the assessment of the State Dept was that Manning / Martin Joseph were eager hoping that the Jamaat was associated so that they could find a way to extradite Bakr. This was right after using them to get elected. Again, I think this is relevant if we are planning to just bring back the PNM - it shouldn't be done on the pretense of putting an end to using the Jamaat.
and don't be so quick to condemn abu bakar and his army. i remember clearly that were quite a few muslims involved in the drug trade and very prominent ASJA members both in el seccoro and aranguez. and to some extent there are many muslims who involve themselves in bid rigging, money laundering, selling alcohol which is a big no no in that particular religion, muslims were also involved in human trafficking, kidnapping of their rivals and all manner of illicit gain yet you have failed to mention that, there is a word for that sort of convenient thinking, i believe it starts with the letter H. in my opinion they are both six of one and half a dozen of the other with both sides having well intentioned devotes and miscreants. yes there are bad apples in the jammat but there are also good people who try to hold fast to the islamic tenents and here you are pulling them down only because they don't belong to your group. human nature is incredibly volatile and whatever they are into is always the right path, go figure.
I have nothing on the Jamaat because of religion. As I said, it's a non-religious thing. Crime is Trinidad is perpetrated by people of all faiths. I don't like the Jamaat because of 1990 and subsequent events. I don't solely blame them because both the PNM/UNC continue to empower them with State money when either are in power and interchangeably use them to win elections. That said I don't think they are the biggest threat to T&T. In my opinion the biggest threat to T&T are the drug cartels that are running our country and corrupting almost every level of government, justice, and the protective services. I also don't think the people at the top of those organizations are living in Laventille or east Port of Spain. Neither the PNM or UNC have ever made any tangible promises to address that, and I really wish the nation's outrage was directed at that rather then all these smoke signals both parties keep throwing at us.
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Bakr: Muslimeen poses no threat
By Ryan Hamilton-Davis (Newsday)
THE JAMAAT al Muslimeen - the organisation at the centre of the police Special Branch caution to its field sections on activities inimical to the State - has said that it poses no threat to the country.
“_ ere is no threat to the population of Trinidad and Tobago by the Jamaat Al Muslimeen,” the organisation’s leader, Yasin Abu Bakr, said in a statement issued yesterday.
_ e leaked Special Branch document alleged that the Muslimeen had intentions of moving arms and ammunition to North and San Fernando, and to attack police stations, the Prime Minister’s private residence, and even attempt to free persons charged in the murder of Senior Counsel Dana Seetahal, and on trial for the murder of businesswoman Vindra Naipaul Coolman.
Acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams while confirming that the document did emanate from the Special Branch, said the information was not verified and had no supporting evidence. He did indicate that the information was received by the Special Branch and was sent out to field sections.
But in a release responding to the leaked document, Abu Bakr assured the Muslimeen means the nation no harm.
“Our issues are being dealt with legally,” the release said, “there appears to be persons spreading rumours with a view to causing mischief to destabilise the country.” Bakr’s son, Fuad, expressed disappointment in the way things are being handled in the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS). He said sensationalism and poor policies are driving the nation’s citizens to panic.
“The sentiment in the Muslim community is that we are being discriminated against,” said the younger Bakr, “the anniversary of the 1990 coup passed peacefully, despite the rumours.
A number of other days where persons said that there would be unrest passed peacefully with the exception of last Friday’s prison break. the sensationalisation, sometimes by the media and even the way the instances are being handled by the police, is causing a lot of panic in Trinidad and Tobago.” Bakr’s statement called on the police to confirm the authenticity of the memo, and said the Muslimeen received unconfirmed reports that it did not come from the TTPS.
In a press conference late yesterday afternoon, Williams cofirmed the memo did in fact originate from the Special Branch.
The Commissioner added that investigations had been made into the rumours, but there has since been no information to support the claims.
Hearing that the memo, while real, had no intelligence to prove its veracity, Fuad expressed further disappointment.
“Well, it was very poorly written,” he quipped, referring to spelling and grammatically errors in the memo. “And it was unprofessional that something like this could have been leaked. _ e TTPS is supposed to protect and serve its citizens, and make them feel safe.
What the police has done by letting this out has in effect made persons more frightened.
It feels like we are better of with the thieves.”
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R45 now that we have this solved lets touch on one thing that i particularly take issue with and that is eric williams having a racist agenda. let me start by saying that i know very little of the man and could only regurgitate second hand information handed down by a grandfather who basically went to school with the man. in my house williams was revered as a demigod. there were pictures of him on the wall talks at the dinner table about his many "wonderful" policies and so on. now let it be known that i am from a very diverse family with a multiplicity of cultures intertwined in one, i am what you call a true calaloo. williams himself could also be seen in the same light as being a man intertwined in many cultures of black indian french creole and chinese.
my grand father would be the first to say that williams was responsible for the stability that trinidad and tobago has enjoyed for the better part of it's fifty years with bigger nations like jamaica guyana haiti cuba and to some extent antigua not enjoying the stability that trinidad and tobago has. he attributes this to williams foresight and economic genius, and maybe this is true and maybe it isn't, but one thing i have noticed about williams from his books that i have read is that he seemed to be very much inclusive of all culture and provided the tools to all trinidadians to excel regardless of creed race and religion which included giving development loans to farmers in the rural areas to boost agriculture production. this does not sound like a man with an axe to grind, and if i was fooled by the little man then i guess he was indeed the best of spin doctors and should be applauded for his shrewd cunning insidious wiles.
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For those who said Eric was divisive, need to look at TT at the time. TT was a racially divided country long before we became independent. But there was always interracial relationships, marriages,cohabitations, whatever. Also the physical smallness of TT or Trinidad in a way has always "forced" the people to "mix". Afros had their idea of what TT should be, while Indos had their ideas of what it should. In the middle where the whites, Portuguese, Spanish, French Creoles, Chinese and Syrians,etc with their own ideas also. So with these competing interests, which are still present today, you all see why the politic nature is still the same as pre 1962.
Eric made some some statements that Indos have said shows he is a racist. The recalcitrant minority. I once asked my history teacher in QRC, Augustus Ramrikasingh to clarify that statement. He said that when there was election to form the WI Federation, Edward Seaga and his party and Capildeo and the DLP were against the idea. Capildeo felt Trini Indos would be at a disadvantage in an heavily populated Afro Caribbean Union. Seaga felt that JA would have the heavy burden of financing the smaller islands. Eric referred to them as the recalcitrant minority, but the referendum had succeeded for federation. The other time was a statement he made about some of the Hindu schools being cow shed. The fact that the physical structures of the schools were in an utter dilapidated state. Hence in the 60s there was a big push to build secondary schools all over the country. Also this formed the impetus for the concordat with all the religious schools.
I can say for a fact that during Eric and PNM rule, Afros and Indos have been cordial to each other. There have been many individual conflicts, but I have never seen Afros and Indos faced each other in street or villages battles. Prove me wrong. The conflicts have been industrial, union against government. And most unions have cross racial lines. Are Indos targeted for robberies, because of their wealth, I would say yes. So are other people. People in the "ghetto" does even get rob for they crix biscuit. Right now the Afro population in TT is in total destruction. 90 % of the homocide in TT is Afro. And is mostly Afro against Afro. This affects the entire country psychologically. So if this country is so racially divided, why are Afros devouring their own at such an alarming rate?
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^^ Deeks boy that was one of your best comments in here.
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Imam Yasin Abu Bakr in the Emancipation Day Parade
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJSqBUSt6Xk
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I can say for a fact that during Eric and PNM rule, Afros and Indos have been cordial to each other. There have been many individual conflicts, but I have never seen Afros and Indos faced each other in street or villages battles. Prove me wrong. The conflicts have been industrial, union against government. And most unions have cross racial lines. Are Indos targeted for robberies, because of their wealth, I would say yes. So are other people. People in the "ghetto" does even get rob for they crix biscuit. Right now the Afro population in TT is in total destruction. 90 % of the homocide in TT is Afro. And is mostly Afro against Afro. This affects the entire country psychologically. So if this country is so racially divided, why are Afros devouring their own at such an alarming rate?
Actually I said Eric Williams was racially divisive, not racist - he utilized a divide-and-conquer style politics to whip up PNM support. Our politics were racist pre-independence and hasn't changed since. That's always been different from the melting pot our society is, but politically the lines are very clear.
And I want to be clear and say I don't think he was a net negative for the country, but he had many flaws like all of the leaders we have had since.
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On Dr Eric Williams worse day the supreme intellectual was still a better leader and visionary than the one we have in office today.
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The Jamaat is going to be telling its side of the story about the 27th of July, 1990 from 4-7pm today at Woodford Square. WACK Radio (90.1) will be broadcasting the event live.
http://www.looptt.com/content/jamaat-al-muslimeen-host-public-meeting-pos-today
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Yesterday July 27th was 28 years since Abu rise to attempted coup fame
https://www.facebook.com/SocaTv/posts/2013813978693453