00:00 Two days after his arrest by members of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service,
00:05 Christopher Hughes, better known as Chris Mustelist, has been charged with sedition.
00:10 The charge was laid by the Special Investigations Unit and states that on May 9th,
00:16 Hughes published a seditious publication via YouTube, the social media platform.
00:21 Hours after the charge was laid, his family made a post to his YouTube channel
00:25 with a sign saying "Help" and calling for people to protest in front of the police station.
00:31 The post also contains a petition calling for his release.
00:35 As at 4pm today, the petition had just over 150 signatures.
00:40 Multiple people from around the world have since commented under the post,
00:44 condemning the actions of the police.
00:47 However, one user said, "I always feared this day would come.
00:51 It is so easy for a foreigner to get caught in a situation like this because of anti-gang laws.
00:57 I think Chris's intentions are good, but his ignorance of the law has cost him his freedom."
01:03 The popular YouTube vlogger was arrested after posting several videos
01:07 showing him interacting with people, some with firearms in their possession.
01:12 Some of the people also claimed to be resisting the system.
01:16 Since news of his arrest and charges broke,
01:19 fellow YouTubers have also taken to the platform in his support.
01:22 David Spinhare, who has over 1 million followers,
01:25 uploaded a video to the app entitled "Arrested in Trinidad, My Friend, YouTuber Chris Must List Is In Danger"
01:33 in which he advocates for freedom of speech.
01:36 I hope this can be resolved as fast as possible.
01:40 Since five years, after five years in prison, $25,000.
01:43 I'm making this video to give public awareness to the situation.
01:47 If this happened to me, I hope somebody would stand up for me.
01:50 As YouTubers traveling around the world,
01:53 where's the line between freedom of speech and what we're doing to create art and give truth to people?
01:59 I love Trinidad. I eat doubles everywhere I go.
02:03 There's some of the nicest people in the world.
02:05 I hope that Chris gets home to his family in Canada where he belongs.
02:10 I'm praying for you, Chris. Truly am.
02:12 Meantime, YouTuber Check and Effect noted
02:15 that several of the people who had been featured in Chris's videos
02:18 had accused the police of being corrupt.
02:21 A guy holding an assault rifle on a thumbnail and people looking at that.
02:25 I don't want, you know, that's the only thing I disagree with.
02:29 And, you know, everybody's entitled to their own opinion, but I disagree with that part.
02:34 But I don't think there's anything wrong with showing slums as long as you're not, like, heavily promoting it.
02:41 So once I guess the police force or the government scene started watching his videos and it spread like wildfire,
02:49 I believe they probably felt like, yo, this is too much is going on.
02:52 We got to get this guy. We have to get this guy and and detain him, arrest him.
02:59 So if you go on his channel, all his Trinidad videos are deleted.
03:04 In a release dated May 30th, the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service says
03:09 Hughes is expected to appear before Port of Spain District Court next week
03:13 after allegedly posting videos featuring persons professing to be gang members,
03:18 advocating criminal activities and using threatening language.
03:22 Renessa Cutting, TV6 News.
03:25 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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