00:00On a motion brought to the lower house on Friday for the government to justify the latest state of emergency
00:05and its proposed three-month extension,
00:08Defense Minister Wayne Sturge argued that the measure is critical to preventing violent crime.
00:13Minister Sturge said the preventative detention orders did just that
00:17by ensuring that those detained at Tetran Barracks and Stobles Bay
00:21were unable to communicate with criminal counterparts to plan murders and other illegal activities.
00:27That PDO in essence achieved something.
00:31It prevented bloodshed.
00:33But the takeaway from that is, and you have to make a choice,
00:40when you preserve life through the PDO, you obviously can't listen anymore.
00:49There's nothing for the SSH to listen to.
00:52But on the flip side, he stated that the interception of phone calls would not have been possible
00:56during that period, as phone calls of that nature would not have been made by or to the detainees.
01:03However, the debate took another turn when Sturge revealed new information
01:07in the murder of state prosecutor Dana Setahal.
01:10What do you prefer?
01:11You prefer leave them so you can listen to them,
01:15let them kill who they are to kill,
01:17just like they killed Mr. Hector, the prosecutor.
01:21And you know the thing is, Dana Setahal also knew she was going to get killed.
01:27She knew. Yes, she did.
01:30She chose not to have security around her.
01:35And she went on.
01:37And there was, well, if you are in the case, you would hear about the intercepts.
01:41There are intercepts.
01:42Sturge continued his contribution as he attempted to lay the blame
01:46on the opposition People's National Movement.
01:48So the police is there listening,
01:53knowing that a high-profile prosecutor is going to be killed.
01:58And instead of doing what we did, you know what they did?
02:03They listened and they listened and they listened.
02:07And now she's not here.
02:11That's what they do.
02:13You know what they do?
02:15Nothing.
02:16What they do and nothing is the same thing.
02:19That's the PNMV.
02:20However, MP for Port of Spain, North St. Anne's West, George Young,
02:24said if ministers had access to intercepted calls,
02:28then an illegal and criminal act occurred.
02:30As only the director of the Strategic Services Agency,
02:34the Commissioner of Police and the Chief of Defense Staff can order such
02:38and would have detailed information in that regard.
02:41He further stated that ministers would receive the reports from those intercepts in codes.
02:46But Young also reminded Sturge of an apparently forgotten fact concerning Sita Hal's killing.
02:51And the member for Toko, Sandy Grandi, said that it was picked up on intercept,
02:59the fate that would befall her.
03:02And he said it with much confidence.
03:06I want to remind the public that happened under a UNC government.
03:17That happened in 2014.
03:21Alicia Boucher, TV6 News.
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