Trinidad and Tobago extends state of emergency as threats hatched in prison persist

CTV News

6 days ago

The country's coat of arms is displayed on the facade of a government building in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, Aug. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Ash Allen, File)
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad — Legislators in Trinidad and Tobago have extended a state of emergency after the attorney general said the twin-island nation's prison system has been compromised. He blamed prison officers and even attorneys of helping inmates accused of plotting to kill high-ranking officials.
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.'
Anselm Gibbs, The Associated Press