Trinidad and Tobago has retained two United Kingdom King’s Counsel to represent the State in legal proceedings brought by businessman Dominic Hadeed and his wife, Genevieve, as the couple continues to challenge their detention under the ongoing State of Emergency (SoE).
Legal Notices published in the Gazette on June 30 authorise Sir James Raymond Eadie KC and Robert Stephen Strang KC to be admitted to practise law in Trinidad and Tobago, specifically for the matter Dominic Hadeed and Genevieve Hadeed v The Commissioner of Police and any related proceedings.
Attorney General John Jeremie made the appointments under Section 15A of the Legal Profession Act following consultation with the Chief Justice.
The Office of the Attorney General said the two King’s Counsel had been retained to represent the State in the matter.
Eadie has practised at the Bar of England and Wales since July 1984, while Strang, also of the Middle Temple, has practised there since November 2003.
The appointments come on the heels of Justice Frank Seepersad on Tuesday dismissing the Hadeeds’ application to be released from custody, ruling that the Preventive Detention Orders (PDOs) issued against them under the Emergency Powers Regulations were lawful.
In a 24-page judgment, Seepersad rejected the couple’s habeas corpus application but stressed that the exercise of emergency powers does not place the Executive beyond judicial scrutiny.
The Hadeeds had argued, through their legal team led by Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes and including Gilbert Peterson and Faris Al-Rawi, that their initial arrests were unlawful and that the subsequent Preventive Detention Orders were therefore invalid.
However, the judge found that entries in the police station diary contradicted claims that the couple had not been informed they were being detained under the Emergency Powers Regulations.
According to the judgment, the arresting officer informed Dominic and Genevieve Hadeed that they were suspected of acting, or being about to act, in a manner prejudicial to public safety by conspiring with others to murder Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, the Attorney General and other members of the Government.
Seepersad ruled that this information was sufficient to trigger the police officer’s powers under Regulation 13 of the Emergency Powers Regulations and found that the initial 48-hour detention, together with a subsequent seven-day extension authorised by a senior police officer, complied with the law.
The judge also held that the station diary provided ‘adequate evidence’ that the applicants had been informed of the reasons for their arrest and detention.
He further ruled that even if the initial arrests had been unlawful, a finding he did not make, that would not have invalidated the Preventive Detention Orders.
Dominic Hadeed, his wife Genevieve and relative Star Sabga were detained after the State alleged they were involved in a conspiracy to assassinate senior government officials.
According to the Preventive Detention Orders signed by Minister of Homeland Security Roger Alexander, intelligence linked the trio to an alleged plot to murder government officials and destabilise the country through acts of violence.
Genevieve Hadeed’s detention order also alleges that she made statements calling for the death of Persad-Bissessar.
The Hadeeds were arrested at their Bayshore, Westmoorings home last week and remain in custody at the Golden Grove Prison in Arouca while their legal challenge continues.