Category Archives: Law

462 arrests in 5 days

State of EmergencyGANG LEADERS HELD AT HYATT
Two gang leaders hiding out at the exclusive Hyatt Regency Hotel in Port-of-Spain were arrested yesterday morning by police under the anti-gang legislation. The two men ages 36 and 31, along with a 22-year-old woman checked into the hotel on Tuesday and stored large sums of cash and jewelry in safes provided in the hotel room suites. The men reportedly were staying on a day to day basis and paid US$250 (TT$1,600) per day.
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PSC Must Explain

Newsday Editorial
August 26, 2011 – newsday.co.tt

Police Commissioner Dwayne GibbsON SUNDAY, President George Maxwell Richards signed a proclamation declaring this country to be under a state of emergency.

It should be common knowledge that when this country is under a state of emergency, it is placed in a very sensitive position: civil rights are significantly curtailed, curfews are often put in place, the Police Service, the Defence Force and the Ministry of National Security assume extraordinary powers of stop, search, arrest and detention.
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56 gang members arrested, says Commissioner Gibbs

State of EmergencyPRESIDENT WRITES SPEAKER
PRESIDENT George Maxwell Richards has informed the Speaker of the House of Representatives Wade Mark of the reasons for his declaration of a nationwide state of emergency on Sunday, explaining that he took the decision to proclaim an emergency because of a recent upsurge in murder and gang-activity and the need for “more decisive and stronger action” in dealing with crime.
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All of T&T Under State of Emergency

State of EmergencyAll of T&T under state of emergency—Minister
The state of emergency, and powers of the security agencies under this, applies to all of T&T and not only the six “hot spot areas”, according to National Security Minister John Sandy. He stressed that yesterday during a media briefing at the Ministry of National Security, Port-of-Spain. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar on Sunday night announced a “limited state of emergency” and a 9 pm to 5 am curfew in “hot spot” areas. Sandy said there had been a misconception that the state of emergency applies only to the six “hot spot” areas where the 9 pm to 5 am curfew was in force. Sandy said criminal elements who would want to “migrate” from “hot spot” areas to other parts of the country to avoid being nabbed, should be warned that the state of emergency applies all over T&T. He added: “So let it be known that the state of emergency exists in the entire country and the powers given to the police and the military exist in all areas of T&T.”
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State of Emergency Nothing to Do with Crime

By Gerry Kangalee
August 23, 2011 – workersunion.org.tt

State of EmergencySo in the midst of the joint unions’ mobilising for the general strike, the government has declared a state of emergency under the guise of dealing with crime. It is clear that this latest desperate act by the PP government has nothing to do with reining in crime, but everything to do with beating back the rising tide of working class discontent. On July 21st the website of the National Workers Union published this article.
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Time for Action: ‘The war is on…’

State of EmergencyTIME FOR ACTION
SAYING desperate times require desperate measures, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan yesterday declared war on criminals as the State unveiled a programme of heightened police action and appealed to citizens to stay home during the curfew hours of 9 pm to 5 am at six listed regional corporations.

‘The war is on…’
Persons arrested and detained under the limited state of emergency in force throughout north, south, east and central Trinidad for the next 14 days, will not be immediately allowed bail, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan indicated yesterday.
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Breakdown of State of Emergency ‘Hot Spots’

State of EmergencyAs part of the state of emergency announced by the Prime Minister a curfew will be in effect from 9 pm to 5 am for the next two weeks in a list of hot spots.

Residents in the designated areas engaged in activities that require them to be outside during those hours can seek a permit granting the necessary clearance by making an application at the police station nearest their residence. (trinidadexpress.com)

Affected areas are as follows:
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PM Declares “Limited State of Emergency”

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has Announced a “Limited State of Emergency” in Crime Hotspots from Midnight

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-BissessarThe PM said that this decision was made “after much deliberation with the National Security Council and members of the Cabinet,” and that the current crime spree must end.

The limited state of emergency is part of a plan using the police and army in response to the “spate of murders over the past few days”.
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Police kill 3 in Moruga: ‘Justice not in the road’

‘Justice not in the road’

By Cecily Asson
July 31, 2011 – newsday.co.tt

Moruga ProtestShortly after a candle ritual and a two-mile peace walk in Moruga to mark the end of several days of fiery protests over police killings of three friends on July 22, the funeral for the first victim was held in San Fernando yesterday.
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Wage war to win peace

By Raffique Shah
July 17, 2011

Raffique Shah“‘Tis strange—but true; for truth is always strange;
Stranger than fiction; if it could be told,
How much would novels gain by the exchange!
How differently the world would men behold!”
(Lord Byron, Don Juan, 1823)

IN Frederick Forsyth’s 2010 novel, Cobra, the central character, Paul Devereaux, a former CIA agent, is tasked by his President (mucho resemblance to Barack Obama) to put an end to the cocaine menace that is strangling America. Devereaux demands, and is given, $2 billion plus a carte blanche instrument of authority to launch his war on the Colombian Cartel and its global tentacles. He hires as his operations officer a former foe, Calvin Dexter, and within one year they put together a powerful machine of personnel and equipment that attacks Don Diego and his overlords with extreme prejudice, as such exercises are described.
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