Trinidad and Tobago extends state of emergency as threats hatched in prison persist
Authorities recently moved high-risk prisoners to military bases as part of a recent crackdown on jailed gang leaders accused of using smuggled cellphones to plot a series of assassinations, robberies and kidnappings with help from criminal associates on the outside.
Attorney General John Jeremie revealed to Parliament on Monday that some prison guards could openly be heard warning inmates when specialized police agents showed up to conduct prison raids, and he also accused some attorneys of illegally helping those behind bars.
'The system has been compromised, and it has been serving inmates as a protected criminal command center,' Jeremie said.
The latest state of emergency in Trinidad and Tobago was extended for three months after authorities warned that the threat of a plot to kill key government officials and attack public institutions still exists.
The initial emergency was declared on July 18 and was expected to last 15 days. However, the Caribbean nation's Parliament convened an extraordinary sitting on Monday to extend the measure until late October.
'We are here for an extension, we are here because the threat exists,' Saddam Hosein, legal affairs minister, said during the sitting.
Prisoners who were deemed 'high risk' were moved to military bases in west Trinidad, but that didn't deter attempts to interfere with their detention, according to the attorney general.
'Those locations that they were removed to were very recently also infiltrated by two drones,' Jeremie said, adding the military thwarted those attempts.
Meanwhile, the Prison Officers' Association, which represents prison guards, has condemned the accusations against the guards.
It's the second state of emergency that the twin-island republic implements in a matter of months. Last December, authorities took similar action, citing concerns about gang violence. That state of emergency lasted until mid-April.
While members of Parliament from both the government and the opposition unanimously voted in favor of extending the emergency, the main opposition questioned whether there had been any major arrests in the first 10 days of the measure being in place.
Government officials noted that police have arrested more than 340 people and launched over 800 operations so far.
The extended emergency was approved a day after Trinidad and Tobago marked 35 years since the failed coup by the Islamist group Jamaat-al-Muslimeen, which left 24 people dead. The attorney general referenced that insurrection, saying the present circumstances are 'not dissimilar from those at that time.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
In wartime, demonstrations in Ukraine can never be more than a peaceful protest
Once a decade, Ukraine has a moment in which street protests redefine the country's political direction. The Orange revolution of 2004; the Maidan revolution of 2014; and now, over the past 10 days, the first major wave of protest since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion. A series of unexpectedly boisterous and well-attended demonstrations forced Volodymyr Zelenskyy to execute a swift U-turn on his decision to scrap the independence of two anti-corruption bodies. On Thursday, MPs reversed the contentious changes they had adopted a week previously. Outside the parliament building, crowds whooped and cheered as the result of the vote was announced. The size, scope and demands of this latest protest movement have been much more modest than those of its revolutionary predecessors, but the spectacle has been no less remarkable, given the context of full-scale war in which it has taken place. The final, celebratory gathering came only hours after the latest massive Russian airstrike had hit Kyiv, killing at least 28 people including three children. Hardly anyone had managed a good night's sleep before arriving at parliament armed with banners and high spirits. This wartime context to a large extent inspired the protests: a common sentiment that when people are laying down their lives for the country on the frontline, the government has to live up to a certain set of values. But it also limited their scope. There was none of the revolutionary enthusiasm of Maidan present here; instead, there was a sober acknowledgement that all-out political unrest would only play into Russia's hands. 'There were some people chanting for impeachment and the vast majority of others said, 'Shut up, we do not undermine the legitimacy of the president, what happened is that the legitimate president made a mistake,'' said Inna Sovsun, an MP from the opposition Holos party who attended several protests. Dmytro Koziatynskyi, whose post on social media provided the initial spark for the protest, dismissed any comparisons to Maidan for exactly this reason. 'Even if they don't pass the law, this will never become anything other than a peaceful protest,' he said, in an interview before the parliamentary vote. Koziatynskyi was a masters student in the Czech Republic before returning to Ukraine after the full-scale invasion in 2022 and signing up to become a combat medic. After three years on various parts of the frontline, he left the army in May and now works for an NGO. When he saw the news last week that parliament had rushed through a law curtailing the independence of two bodies specially designed to go after high-level corruption, he found it 'insulting', he said. 'People are not fighting so that our government can do some crazy stuff, that destroys all our achievements since 2014,' he said. He penned an angry post on social media calling on people to protest against the new law. He expected 'maximum 100 people, mostly friends and acquaintances' to join the protest. By the second night there were about 10,000 people outside the Ivan Franko theatre, the nearest point to the presidential office that is accessible to the public. Most of those who came out were young – this has been a protest wave dominated by gen Z, with friends competing for the wittiest slogan or meme reference on their handwritten placards. On Wednesday evening, a man leading the singing of the Ukrainian national anthem through a loudspeaker was holding a sign that bore a single word: 'Cringe'. Suddenly, the fate of two relatively small institutions – the national anti-corruption bureau, known as Nabu, and the specialised anti-corruption prosecutor's office, Sapo – had become the issue of the day among Ukrainian teenagers. Nabu and Sapo were established after the Maidan revolution as part of a drive against the long-running scourge of corruption in Ukraine, financed partly with US money. Some western observers agree that there are problems with Nabu and Sapo: too many cases opened and not enough of them brought to a conclusion, for one. In theory, some streamlining would make sense; in practice, Zelenskyy's move looked a lot like bringing independent investigators under political control. With the Trump administration no longer pushing an anti-corruption agenda, and Europe on summer holidays, Zelenskyy's team appears to have felt they could push the bill through quickly, without anyone paying much attention. That might have been the case were it not for the protests. But the images of thousands of young people demanding the law's repeal forced European politicians to take a stand, and several leaders spoke privately to Zelenskyy to tell him he needed to find a way out of the self-inflicted mess. Sign up to Headlines Europe A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day after newsletter promotion 'This became a major breach of trust. It's problematic both from an EU accession point of view and in that it makes it much harder for friends of Ukraine to continue making the case that the country needs support,' said one diplomatic source in Kyiv. Zelenskyy's response was swift and decisive, even if somewhat embarrassing for the MPs of his Servant of the People party, who were instructed to vote against the very thing they had been ordered to vote for the previous week. Now that the status quo has been re-established, there are two very different readings of the whole episode. One sees a leader using wartime powers to try to stifle independent institutions, too out of touch to predict the obvious backlash. Another reflects on how, even in wartime, Ukrainian society is still capable of expressing democratic sentiment, and its leaders still able to react swiftly to it. Koziatynskyi, whose post started off the protest wave, leans towards the second view. 'The protests showed that Ukrainian democracy is as strong as possible in times of a full-scale war, and our society is mature enough to have a dialogue with the government, and the government is able to listen,' he said. Zelenskyy's five-year presidential term should have ended last year, but almost all Ukrainians, including his fiercest opponents, agree that elections are both legally and technically impossible during wartime. With Russia's nightly attacks continuing, and a hope that Donald Trump might finally start getting tougher on Russia, that consensus has not changed. Nobody wants upheaval, but the outburst of protest may yet change the political atmosphere. 'Legally, everything will go back to how it was; politically, it's more complicated,' said Sovsun. 'It's unpredictable what this might have done to Ukrainian society. We have basically lifted the unspoken rule that we don't protest during martial law.'
The Independent
19 hours ago
- The Independent
Moment ride snaps in half mid-air at Saudi Arabian theme park, leaving 23 injured
A theme park ride in Saudi Arabia snapped in half mid-air, sending riders plummeting to the ground and injuring 23 people. Video footage shared on Thursday (31 July) shows riders onboard the 360 Big Pendulum ride at Green Mountain Park in the Al-Hada area of Taif screaming as they swing from side to side. Suddenly, the ride drops to the floor whilst on the upward swing, with the pendulum appearing to smash into some of the riders. Eyewitnesses said the pole 'recoiled at high speed' before it came hurtling down, The Sun reports. Three of those injured are in a critical condition following the incident and an investigation has been launched.
The Herald Scotland
a day ago
- The Herald Scotland
Even if you don't want indy, you should back a new vote
Those who are convinced that the Scottish Parliament is an 'unsuccessful institution' (as previously stated by Mr Scott) and should be closed should demonstrate the sincerity of their views by openly campaigning for a referendum (necessary under the 2016 Scotland Act) which would offer a simple choice of exclusive representation by a parliament in Holyrood or by a parliament in Westminster. Retreating to a position that in spite of the UK's demise, morally, economically and socially, accompanied by a distinct change in public opinion (we are no longer talking about 25% support in the polls for independence as was the case before the last referendum) we must be forbidden, unlike the UK citizens of Northern Ireland, from having another constitutional referendum after more than a decade has elapsed, is not only to deny democracy but to deny human evolution. Stan Grodynski, Longniddry. Read more letters Another huge waste of time John Swinney and Kenny MacAskill are jostling for position over who can come up with the best ruse to deliver the break-up of the UK ('First Minister is urged to reconsider new [[SNP]] independence poll strategy', The Herald, July 30). They are arguing over which parties should be included in the majority in the 2026 Holyrood election that they hope could either trigger another referendum or otherwise enable a mandate of sufficient weight to go straight to independence negotiations. Both are encouraged by some opinion polling showing support for independence at just over 50 per cent. Given all the economic and social issues facing us, with a broad cross-section of public services in Scotland in various degrees of crisis, now is surely the worst possible time to inflict all the disruption, cost and distraction of another polarising debate over our constitutional future. As for what those opinion polls mean, personally I suspect a full debate of all the issues, including an honest assessment of the likely state of Scotland's public finances if it turns its back on the UK, would deliver a referendum result similar to that in 2014, namely in favour of remaining in the UK. Indeed, the most significant difference could prove to be that the Electoral Commission would propose a more neutral question based on Leave/Remain rather than Yes/No, which would quite possibly push the Remain total up above 55 per cent. As the [[SNP]] and Alba debate the niceties of how best to get their way, they might want to spare a thought for those of us who see them trying to cook up another gigantic waste of time. What Scotland really needs is basic competent government, which the [[SNP]] has proven beyond all doubt it is incapable of delivering. Keith Howell, West Linton. • The perennial question for GR Weir (Letters, July 31) to answer is just how does he define 'a stable majority? Plus 1, 60/40, or don't know, thus requiring a referendum on that first? If independence ever happened, I have to assume he would be in favour also of a rejoin referendum if and when there was a stable majority for that. Alan Fitzpatrick, Dunlop. Brexit 'wins' become mirages I would challenge Ian Lakin's view (Letters, July 30) that the EU is nothing without the UK. First, because if he is correct surely this alone would be a very good reason for us to be within the EU wielding the influence and power that Mr Lakin's letter states the UK had. Why would the UK give up such a fantastic position ? On the specific EU-US trade deal, this is not a deal at all – yet. We have in the public domain (at present) very few of the specifics. Also any proposal will have to be fully ratified by the EU members. So apart from the headlines there is actually nothing to report at all. Experience over the last few months has shown that those who want to believe Brexit is a success are too quick to highlight UK 'wins' only to find they turn into mirages which either dissolve under scrutiny or are replaced with a further unforeseen change negating the heralded gain. For example there is Donald Trump's first tariff proposals and quick chorus in this paper from Brexit supporters that dissolved within days, or the Japan/ UK trade trade deal which now, apart from the opinions of committed Brexit supporters, is seen as much poorer than the deal subsequently struck by the EU. Finally, whatever the end result there is the small matter of the loss of 4-5% of annual GDP which none of these deals are really making a dent in. Michael Luck, Bearsden. • I suspect that Ian Lakin has been misled by appearances. Donald Trump's trade deal with the EU will likely turn out to be much less than it seems now. Ursula Von der Leyen visited Japan before her Turnberry meeting with the US President. There she found out that the deal Mr Trump had reached with Japan was not as claimed by the US administration. Firstly, there is apparently nothing on paper and no binding commitment. Secondly, the $550 billion that the administration claims will be given by Japan for US investment at Mr Trump's direction is illusory. What money Japan may give will, according to the Japanese, be almost entirely for loans and loan guarantees. It may simply be putting Donald Trump's name on what would have happened anyway. Thirdly, the deal, such as it is, is said to make it easier to sell US cars in Japan. But Japanese consumers have always preferred their own cars to outsize American models. The other deals, with Vietnam for example, have a similar problem with substance. Mr Trump has been hurrying to have something to show by his self-imposed deadline of August 1 and his propagandists in the US media will no doubt exaggerate reality. So both the substance and durability of these deals are in real doubt. I am sure that the EU is stronger with UK membership but to claim that the UK is better off with its own US deal is to place too much confidence in an administration that has amply demonstrated its unreliability and volatility. Alasdair Rankin, Edinburgh. What should we make of Donald Trump's trade deals? (Image: PA) Stop our arms support for Israel Keir Starmer's recent move towards the two-state solution is not without its significance but what is demanded now is saving Palestinians including their children from being murdered in their thousands. Canada said on Wednesday that it would recognise Palestine as a state, if the Palestinian Authority commits to making certain changes including holding elections. I now wonder if these moves are anything like sufficient. They are important steps in the right direction but what is needed now is not words but urgent action. Relief agencies and their thousands of tons of food and water must be allowed into Gaza tomorrow, if not literally today. Doug Maughan (Letters, July 31) recognises that in saying 'Let's hope thousands of truckloads of aid flow into Gaza this week. Otherwise, many children won't live until September'. Such hope is not enough, it must be humanity's immediate priority to save lives. Far more courageous action on the part of the West is needed now. Keir Starmer, for instance, must immediately withdraw all forms of support such as supply of parts for bombers. According to Oxfam, 'the UK Government has said it only supplies these parts to Israel indirectly, via a global programme led by the US company Lockheed Martin. The [[UK Government]] claims this global supply chain means that parts cannot be tracked. This is untrue, however the legal obligation to stop supplying parts that risk being used to violate international law would apply regardless.' John Milne, Uddingston.
