00:00State attorneys have informed the Court of Appeal that they will no longer proceed with
00:05the substantive appeal against Star Sabga. The notification was sent by email shortly
00:11after 4 o'clock yesterday afternoon. It comes less than a week after Homeland Security Minister
00:17Roger Alexander revoked the preventive detention order against Sabga, ending her detention at
00:24her West Moorings apartment. Sabga had spent several weeks in prison before High Court Judge
00:30Vijay Paul ordered that she be placed under house arrest in late July. The state subsequently
00:35appealed that decision. But when the matter came before the Court of Appeal for Case Management
00:42last Thursday, Justice Carla Brown Antwine questioned whether the appeal had become academic following
00:48the revocation of the detention order and with the state of emergency scheduled to end this Thursday.
00:54Sabga, her niece Genevieve Hadid, and Hadid's husband, businessman Dominic Hadid, were detained
01:00in late June under preventive detention orders. The state alleged that the three had conspired
01:06to assassinate key government officials, allegations they have denied. The detentions were based
01:12on purported intelligence from the Strategic Services Agency. The Hadids had initially been
01:17denied interim release by High Court Judge Justice Frank Sipisad. That decision was later
01:23overturned by the Court of Appeal, which raised concerns about the justification provided for
01:29their continued detention. A subsequent Court of Appeal panel state those findings pending the state's
01:35appeal to the Privy Council, meaning the Hadids remained in prison. The State of Emergency Review Tribunal
01:41later recommended that all three be released. The PDOs against the Hadids were eventually revoked
01:47after the Privy Council indicated the state's appeal could only be heard in October. Sabga's case
01:54followed a different course, with Justice Paul imposing house arrest conditions in July.
01:59The TTPS and Attorney General's Office challenged that decision, an appeal which remained before the
02:05Court of Appeal when Sabga's PDO was revoked. Now the state has indicated it will not proceed with that
02:12appeal. The case also attracted international attention. The New York Times yesterday published
02:18a report headlined, she bashed the government on a private call, then she was detained for months.
02:24The report examined Sabga's detention and the arrest of the Hadids, focusing in particular
02:29on a telephone conversation between Sabga and Genevieve Hadid. Excerpts from the July 11th conversation
02:36was cited by Minister Alexander as evidence of what he described as developing chatter pointing to
02:43threats against people in public life. But the full 15-minute recording was subsequently leaked and
02:49published locally, raising questions about the context of Sabga's comments and how they were
02:54interpreted by the authorities. The trio continued to pursue constitutional claims challenging their
03:01detention. Those claims include allegations that they were targeted because of their ethnicity,
03:07as well as challenges to the grounds on which the preventive detention orders were issued.
03:12The Hadids are also separately challenging the government's decision to terminate their leases
03:17for state land in Taqueragua. The substantive constitutional matter is scheduled for hearing on October 19th.
03:24The international attention comes as the state of emergency approaches its scheduled end,
03:28with hundreds of people detained under the emergency measures expected to be released.
03:33The New York Times report has also placed wider scrutiny on the government's use of emergency powers,
03:40including preventive detention, surveillance and war-class searches,
03:44and the debate surrounding racial and political tensions involving Trinidad and Tobago's Syrian-Lebanese community.
03:51You can read more from Rikki Ramdas in Tomorrow's Express.
03:55Ravishi Tiwari Rupnarein, TV6 News.
03:58Nizeliner, TV6 News.
03:58Ravishi Tiwari Rupnarein, TV6 News.
04:00Nizeliner, TV9 News.
04:01Nizeliner, TV7 News.
04:01Nizeliner, TV7 News.
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