00:00While attorneys representing Canadian blogger Christopher Hughes have asked Homeland Security
00:04Minister Roger Alexander to recuse himself from deciding whether to lift Hughes' deportation
00:10order. In a letter to the minister dated June 25th, Hughes' legal team argued that Alexander
00:16had previously appeared as an interviewee on the blogger's online platform and had also
00:22communicated with Hughes about matters relating to the pending criminal proceedings. The attorneys
00:26contend that those interactions could give rise to a perceived conflict of interest, creating
00:32what they describe as a real possibility of bias in any decision concerning Hughes' request
00:39to re-enter Trinidad and Tobago for his sedition trial. They have instead asked that Minister
00:45in the Ministry of Homeland Security, Wayne Sturge, determined the application, or alternatively,
00:50that Cabinet appoint another decision-maker. The request came before Minister Alexander
00:55announced he would issue a minister's permit, allowing Hughes to return to Trinidad and
01:01Tobago to attend his trial, which is scheduled to begin on July 22nd.
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