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Offline just cool

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Re: Crying Jamaal Shabazz admits: It was a heinous act.
« Reply #120 on: October 31, 2011, 04:41:03 AM »
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.
« Last Edit: October 31, 2011, 04:45:13 AM by just cool »
The pen is mightier than the sword, Africa for Africans home and abroad.Trinidad is not my home just a pit stop, Africa is my destination,final destination the MOST HIGH.

Offline capodetutticapi

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Re: Crying Jamaal Shabazz admits: It was a heinous act.
« Reply #121 on: October 31, 2011, 09:28:01 AM »
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.
soon ah go b ah lean mean bulling machine.

Offline Sando

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Jury selection in Bakr sedition case starts today.
« Reply #122 on: January 04, 2012, 04:19:50 AM »
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.

Offline Flex

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Re: Yasin Abu Bakr Thread
« Reply #123 on: September 18, 2013, 02:02:55 AM »
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.”

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

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Re: Yasin Abu Bakr Thread
« Reply #124 on: May 19, 2014, 05:29:03 AM »
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.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Flex

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Re: Yasin Abu Bakr Thread
« Reply #125 on: May 20, 2014, 04:04:35 AM »
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.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Socapro

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The Man Who Tried to Overthrow the Trinidad Government: Interview with Abu Bakr
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/NhJDsJuOweE" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/NhJDsJuOweE</a>

CRIME & DRUGS
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.”
« Last Edit: June 05, 2014, 08:55:58 PM by Socapro »
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Re: Yasin Abu Bakr Thread
« Reply #127 on: October 16, 2014, 02:34:03 AM »
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.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

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Son says: Abu-Bakr not a threat
« Reply #129 on: October 16, 2014, 12:29:06 PM »
Son says: Abu-Bakr not a threat
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&notif_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.
« Last Edit: October 16, 2014, 12:50:39 PM by Socapro »
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Re: Yasin Abu Bakr Thread
« Reply #130 on: October 16, 2014, 04:12:56 PM »
Radical Trinidad Muslim leader refused landing in Jamaica
Government says plan being made to transport Abu Bakr home

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.
« Last Edit: October 16, 2014, 04:20:26 PM by Socapro »
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Re: Yasin Abu Bakr Thread
« Reply #131 on: October 16, 2014, 04:15:22 PM »
Statement on Abu Bakr's deportation
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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Offline AB.Trini

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Re: Yasin Abu Bakr Thread
« Reply #132 on: October 16, 2014, 07:37:00 PM »
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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Re: Yasin Abu Bakr Thread
« Reply #133 on: October 16, 2014, 08:02:13 PM »
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
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/NhJDsJuOweE" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/NhJDsJuOweE</a>

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)
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/xybbUbxHOK4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/xybbUbxHOK4</a>

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)
« Last Edit: October 16, 2014, 09:06:56 PM by Socapro »
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Re: Yasin Abu Bakr Thread
« Reply #134 on: October 22, 2014, 12:18:17 PM »
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


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Re: Yasin Abu Bakr Thread
« Reply #135 on: October 22, 2014, 04:42:08 PM »


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........
We fire de old set ah managers we had wukkin..and iz ah new group we went and we bring in. And if the goods we require de new managers not supplying, when election time come back round iz new ones we bringin. For iz one ting about my people I can guarantee..They will never ever vote party b4 country

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Bunting: Abu Bakr's $4m jet was insurance premium
« Reply #136 on: October 24, 2014, 06:15:41 PM »
Bunting: Abu Bakr's $4m jet was insurance premium
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.
« Last Edit: October 24, 2014, 06:21:54 PM by Socapro »
De higher a monkey climbs is de less his ass is on de line, if he works for FIFA that is! ;-)

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Griffith to Abu Bakr: The evil that men doeth live after them...
« Reply #137 on: October 24, 2014, 06:18:34 PM »
Griffith to Abu Bakr: The evil that men doeth live after them...
...“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.
« Last Edit: October 24, 2014, 06:21:07 PM by Socapro »
De higher a monkey climbs is de less his ass is on de line, if he works for FIFA that is! ;-)

Offline Socapro

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Imam Yasin Abu Bakr being interviewed live on The Street 919 FM right now!!
« Reply #138 on: October 27, 2014, 06:16:43 PM »
Imam Yasin Abu Bakr being interviewed live on The Street 919 FM right now tune in: http://www.thestreet919fm.com/
De higher a monkey climbs is de less his ass is on de line, if he works for FIFA that is! ;-)

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Re: Yasin Abu Bakr Thread
« Reply #139 on: December 14, 2014, 05:39:44 AM »
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.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

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Re: Yasin Abu Bakr Thread
« Reply #140 on: December 14, 2014, 06:59:12 AM »
Likely the Express obtained the e-mail from ...?

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Re: Yasin Abu Bakr Thread
« Reply #141 on: July 21, 2015, 01:54:19 AM »
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.


The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

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Re: Yasin Abu Bakr Thread
« Reply #142 on: July 22, 2015, 01:55:19 AM »
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.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Sando prince

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Re: Yasin Abu Bakr Thread
« Reply #143 on: July 23, 2015, 05:50:11 PM »

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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Re: Yasin Abu Bakr Thread
« Reply #144 on: July 24, 2015, 01:53:56 AM »
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.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

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Re: Yasin Abu Bakr Thread
« Reply #145 on: July 30, 2015, 02:16:05 AM »
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.”


alleged target: The private residence of Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar located in Phillipine.

The real measure of a man's character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.

Offline Socapro

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Re: Yasin Abu Bakr Thread
« Reply #146 on: July 30, 2015, 05:21:18 AM »
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.
« Last Edit: July 30, 2015, 05:29:22 AM by Socapro »
De higher a monkey climbs is de less his ass is on de line, if he works for FIFA that is! ;-)

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Re: Yasin Abu Bakr Thread
« Reply #147 on: July 30, 2015, 02:50:55 PM »
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.

Quote
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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Re: Yasin Abu Bakr Thread
« Reply #148 on: July 30, 2015, 04:01:38 PM »
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.

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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?
« Last Edit: July 30, 2015, 04:03:16 PM by pull stones »

Offline R45

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Re: Yasin Abu Bakr Thread
« Reply #149 on: July 30, 2015, 07:48:30 PM »
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.

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on the case of the jammat you also missed the point big time.

I didn't miss it, just completely disagreed.

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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.

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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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