Senior anti-crime cop fingered in release of Bajan fishermen
DPP still awaiting file

By NALINEE SEELAL, Newsday TT

A senior officer of the elite anti-crime unit led by Brigadier Peter Joseph has been identified as one of the two persons who gave instructions to the police in Tobago to release two Bajan fishermen charged with fishing illegally in Trinidad and Tobago waters. This information is contained in a report submitted by senior Tobago police officers to Police Commissioner Everald Snaggs. The file is reportedly still with Commissioner Snaggs. Sources in Tobago told Newsday that they were contacted by the senior cop who advised them that he was acting on instructions from a senior Government official.

The senior cop reportedly gave instructions to another senior officer in Tobago to order the release of the fishermen. Following the release of the fishermen, Director of Public Prosecutions Geoffrey Henderson sent a letter to Commissioner Snaggs in an effort to find out who gave instructions to the police not to proceed with the case. The DPP confirmed that the letter was sent and added that he is still awaiting a reply from the top cop. The only person entrusted with the power to order the release of anyone charged with any offence is the Director of Public Prosecutions. Contacted yesterday, Deputy Commissioner Trevor Paul told Newsday that the file is still with the police. He said that he did not wish to comment on the matter but assured that in time the appropriate person will make a statemeent on the outcome of the investigation.

On February 7, 47-year-old Joseph Mason and 61-year old Samuel Firebrace were held by the Coast Guard and later charged with fishing illegally in Trinidad and Tobago waters. On February 9, Cpl John Morrison, a prosecutor at the Scarborough Magistrates Court told Magistrate Joan Gill that the police had decided not to offer any evidence in the matter and the two fishermen were allowed to leave the courtroom. The fishermen departed Tobago with the fish they caught which included 13 king fish, 11 dolphin and 3,000 pounds of flying fish. The release of the fishermen occurred in the middle of a dispute between Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados over maritime boundaries which has now been reported to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).