TRINIDAD-Court of Appeal to hear matter involving prominent businessman.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC -The Court of Appeal will on Tuesday next week hear an urgent procedural appeal as businessman Dominic Hadeed and his wife, Genevieve, seek to overturn a decision by a High Court judge refusing a challenge to their detention under the existing State of Emergency (SoE) regulations.

Justice of Appeal Peter Rajkumar, in setting the date for the matter, has also directed the parties to file their respective submissions by midnight on Saturday, paving the way for a full panel of three Justices of Appeal to hear the appeal.

The appeal date was set after High Court Judge Vigel Paul rejected an application to expedite the couple’s substantive constitutional claim, in which they allege they are being targeted by the Kamla Persad-Bissessar government because of their ethnicity and an ongoing dispute over the termination of leases for state land.

The application before Justice Paul was based on claims that Hadeed’s health has deteriorated significantly while he and his wife remain detained under Preventive Detention Orders (PDOs). Justice Paul has fixed July 17 for case management of the claim.

The Hadeeds and relative Star Sabga, 69, were detained more than two weeks ago after police executed search warrants at their home and business.

According to the warrants, they were detained for allegedly conspiring to assassinate Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar, Attorney General John Jeremie, and other members of the government, as well as for alleged offenses under the Emergency Powers Regulations.

On June 30, High Court judge Justice Frank Seepersad refused to order the release of the Hadeeds pending the hearing of their judicial review claim challenging the legality of their arrest and detention.

In the appeal, filed on Tuesday, the Hadeeds are asking the Court of Appeal to overturn that decision, reconsider their application for interim relief and order their immediate release.

Alternatively, they are seeking to be detained under police supervision at their Westmoorings home, west of here, until their substantive legal challenge is determined.

“The learned judge erred in law, in his provisional assessment of the merits, by unduly deferring to the Minister, in circumstances where the appellants had adduced credible and largely unchallenged evidence that demonstrated that, prima facie, the arrests, detentions, and PDOs were procured for an improper purpose and in bad faith,” they stated.

They were initially detained under Regulation 13 before Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander signed preventive detention orders against them on June 27 under Regulation 14.

They were subsequently transferred to the Eastern Correctional Rehabilitation Center (ECRC) and the Maximum Security Women’s Prison, respectively, where they remain detained without criminal charges being laid.

The lawyers for the Hadeeds, led by Senior Counsel Douglas Mendes, SC and including former attorney general, Faris Al-Rawi, SC, have argued that the health of Dominic Hadeed, the owner and founder of the company, Blue Waters Products Ltd, was deteriorating in prison because he was unable to access the medical treatment he requires, and urged the court to treat the matter as one of urgency.

The Attorney General’s Office has retained British KCs Sir James Eadie and Robert Strang to represent the State alongside attorney Gerald Ramdeen.