00:00Over 300 people are said to be in detention at state facilities, having been arrested under SOE regulations, the vast
00:09majority of whom are there without charge.
00:11With their deeds now being set free, MSJ leader David Abdullah notes the disparity in the harsh reality.
00:19They had the financial resources to have for senior councils and to pursue their defence on about three or four
00:27parallel tracks, habeas corpus, then constitutional motion, judicial review.
00:34All of these were different tracks and High Court, Appeal Court, Second Appeal Court, Privy Council, several different tracks that
00:42they were pursuing.
00:43So they had the capacity to do that. I don't think that any of the other persons who are in
00:50detention who have not been charged have that capacity.
00:54And so one thing is that, of course, if you have money, then your access to getting justice is far
01:02greater than those who don't have money.
01:05Yes, and this case demonstrates that.
01:08But Abdullah notes that everyone who has been detained under SOE regulations stand to benefit from the Hadid matter.
01:17What has happened in this Hadid case will set important legal precedents that will benefit others.
01:25So in a sense, they have cut paths for Guthi to run.
01:29So that can also benefit others who don't have those resources.
01:33Because the court judgments that will come out of these matters will be settled law.
01:40In other words, that will be the law.
01:43And future state of emergencies, future PDOs, whatever, whoever's minister and whoever's commissioner of police and so on,
01:52will have to follow what the courts determine in terms of the process.
01:57Other matters are going to no doubt arise with respect to the right to protest in a state of emergency.
02:03And I'm aware of things that may be happening there, so I wouldn't say anything more.
02:07But that may also, other legal challenges could take place against the state and how it has acted against people
02:16who have been engaged in peaceful protests during the state of emergency.
02:20Minister of Homeland Security, Raja Alexander, had cited legal, medical and constitutional issues surrounding the couple's detention as the basis
02:31for their release.
02:32However, Abdullah is questioning the change in the state's position.
02:37Had it gone to the Privy Council, the Privy Council might very well have trashed the state's position.
02:45And that, to my mind, is very significant.
02:48In other words, that would have been a very final decision about the use of PDOs, preventative detention orders,
02:56in circumstances where the Minister of Homeland Security has not been provided with sufficient evidence to justify the use of
03:07a preventative detention order.
03:09And that seems to be where that is, that they didn't have sufficient evidence.
03:13The TTPS has executed close to 450 PDOs over the period of the SOE.
03:20Earlier this year, 117 detainees were released without charge.
03:26Renessa Cutting, TV6 News.
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