By FRANCIS JOSEPH
Tears flowed at the Golden Grove State Prison, Arouca, on Thursday night when Dominic Hadeed and his wife Genevieve, were told they were not going home.
According to prison sources, the Hadeeds were packed and ready to go since 5 pm on Thursday following the Court of Appeal ruling two hours earlier, ordering their release and for them to return to their home at 23 Pine Avenue, Bayshore.
The Hadeeds sat in their cells waiting to get the final word that they were going home, but that was dashed when they found out that the Court of Appeal granted a stay of the earlier Court of Appeal decision to free them from custody.
Prison sources said joy came to tears on Thursday night. On Friday morning, these same sources said the Hadeeds “hardly slept through the night.”
Following an emergency hearing on Thursday night, Chief Justice Ronnie Boodoosingh, Justice Mark Mohammed and Justice Ricky Rahim granted an interim stay of the judgment delivered hours earlier by three other judges.
The panel also granted final leave to the State for an appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council by the State.
The interim stay will remain in place until CJ Boodoosingh and his colleagues hear further submissions on the issue at 3 pm on Friday.
Lawyers for the Police Service and the Office of the Attorney General, initially sought the stay after Justices Peter Rajkumar, Mira Dean-Armorer and Joan Charles upheld the Hadeeds’ appeal over the refusal of Justice Frank Seepersad to order their interim release.
After the order for their release, the Police headed down to the Hadeeds’ home at Bayshore to “sweep” for communication devices. There was a heavy police presence, which included police officers from Special Branch.
Even a mobile unit was secured and placed inside the Hadeeds’ residence. Sunshine Today noticed neighbours peeping through their windows and doors at what was happening at Pine Avenue. Then, most of them realized that the Hadeeds were coming home.
Police officers entered the home and searched for communications devices.
The Hadeeds were arrested on June 24 and spent 22 days in custody before the Court of Appeal ordered them released from prison on Thursday and placed them under house arrest.
Addressing the failure of prison officials to release his clients immediately, attorney Faris Al-Rawi SC, standing outside the Golden Grove Prison on Thursday night, said prison officers simply refused to obey the initial court orders.
He said, “Unfortunately, what happened was they just simply refused to release them. Not by an overt statement, but the statements from the officers on the inside were that they had no authorization.”
He added: “We made several attempts to contact all relevant persons, attorneys-at-law for the Minister of Homeland Security, the Commissioner of Prisons, everyone! Suffice it to say that you saw the police come and go, and they were Special Branch officers that came here, they too were turned away. And the State brought an urgent application before the Court of Appeal tonight, seeking leave to go to the Privy Council and asking for a stay of the judgment.”
And by 9.30 pm, it was clear the couple would be spending another night in prison.
The Court Ruling
Earlier on Thursday, the Court of Appeal ruled the following:
* The appellants are entitled to the grant of interim relief by their conditional release and confinement to their home.
* They are to be immediately released from their current places of detention but confined to their home subject to the following conditions:
a] The appellants are to surrender their passports and other travel documents
b] The appellants are to surrender all firearms in their possession
c] The appellants are to Surrender All communication devices
d] The appellants are not to communicate with persons outside the location/address above whether directly or indirectly without prior approval by the Commissioner of Police.
e] The appellants are to remain at their home at the above address and are not to attempt to leave without the permission of the Commissioner of Police.
f] The appellants are not permitted to have visitors to that address without prior approval of the Commissioner of Police.
g] Only listed and approved medical and legal practitioners and/or care givers are permitted entry to that address.
h] The appellants are to allow entry onto the premises by an authorised and designated member of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service at reasonable times to attend and conduct inspections to confirm compliance with these terms.
i] Should any of the appellants breach of any of the conditions above he/she will be liable to detention under the respective PDOs.
j] The respondents are at liberty, upon delivery of this judgment to indicate what if any further conditions upon release are suggested provided however that the court’s order for release is complied with.
The Hadeeds have indicated that they are prepared to be fitted with electronic monitoring devices to record movements. Should the State require that they be fitted with electronic monitoring devices, arrangements must be made for that to occur as soon as possible, provided that the conditional release of the appellants is not dependent thereon, the court ruled.
