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  • 11 months ago
On the afternoon of April 15, the High Court intends to deliver its ruling in a claim for judicial review over whether Erla Harewood-Christopher was unlawfully suspended as Police Commissioner by the Police Service Commission while being under investigation for allegedly misbehaving in public office. Urvashi Tiwari-Roopnarine brings you the story compiled by express journalist Rickie Ramdass.
Transcript
00:00High Court Justice Christopher Siu-Chan, during a virtual hearing on Thursday, indicated his
00:05intention to deliver his ruling in the judicial review application by suspended Commissioner
00:11of Police Ula Harewood Christopher by April 15.
00:15The judge, however, said that would be dependent on the written submissions and replies to
00:20be filed and served over the course of next month.
00:23In the unlikely circumstance that deadline won't be met, Justice Siu-Chan committed to
00:28informing attorneys on both sides by April 11th.
00:32In any event, the court is expected to do so before May 16th, when Harewood Christopher's
00:38contract expires.
00:40During the hearing today, Harewood Christopher's lead attorney, Pamela Elder, Senior Counsel,
00:45said she had evidential objections to certain paragraphs of the affidavit of the Director
00:51of Personnel Administration, Corey Harrison.
00:54Ula argued that Harrison mentioned what he said were considerations taken into account
01:00by the Commission in making its decision to suspend the top cop, but Elder submitted that
01:06those considerations outlined by Harrison were never mentioned in the Police Service
01:11Commission's suspension letter.
01:14She said, quote,
01:15He went on to mention the factors the Commission took into account, and these factors contradict
01:20the factors stated in the letter of suspension, end quote.
01:24Elder pointed to the DPA's affidavit, where he said some of the considerations taken into
01:29account was the need for the Police Service Commission to protect the, quote-unquote,
01:35dignity and authority of the Office of the Police Commissioner, as well as the integrity
01:40of the investigation against Harewood Christopher.
01:43This was not contained in the suspension letter, she said.
01:46Further, Elder said Harrison went on to elaborate on what was actually stated in the suspension
01:52letter, but she says only the Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Dr. Wendell
01:57Wallace, could outline additional reasons for the suspension and expand on what was
02:03stated in the letter.
02:05In response, Deborah Peake, Senior Counsel leading the case for the Commission, says
02:09this is a moot point as the decision-maker does not necessarily have to go on record
02:16on behalf of the Commission.
02:18When Elder reminded the judge her client's term in office would officially be coming
02:22to an end on May 16th, Justice Siu Chan suggested that he consider both the evidential objections
02:29as well as the substantive claim together, which would have the effect of reducing the
02:34time within which the court could make its decision.
02:37When it came to evidential objections, Justice Siu Chan said he needed to be satisfied that
02:42what was stated in Harrison's affidavit was based on his personal knowledge.
02:47The judge said he also needed clarity from the Police Service Commission on whether the
02:51additional reasons for the suspension, as stated in Harrison's affidavit, constitutes
02:57a change of reasons for the suspension.
03:00The top cop was suspended with immediate effect on January 31st, one day after she was arrested
03:05at the Police Administration building, Sackville Street, Port of Spain.
03:09The arrest surrounds Hayward Christopher allegedly signing off on a firearms import
03:13license on October 10th, 2023, for the procurement of two AX-2 bolt-action sniper rifles from
03:21Accuracy International in the United Kingdom for resale purposes by firearms dealer Luke
03:28Hadid, according to the license.
03:31The firearms were to supposedly be sold by Hadid to the Strategic Services Agency, which
03:36had no remit to possess such high-powered weapons and which could have only been imported
03:42for use by the police service and the military.
03:47Since her arrest, investigators have visited the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
03:51on a number of occasions for advice on whether there was sufficient evidence to have charges
03:57brought against the suspended top cop.
03:59On each of those occasions, the investigators were informed that additional evidence was
04:04required before any charges could be brought.
04:07Arushi Tiwari, Rub-N-Ryne, TV6 News.
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