From CARIBBEAN360

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Tuesday July 21, 2015 – Describing his father’s detention as “politically motivated” and another example of the persecution of his family, the son of Jamaat al Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr accused police of trying to pin the murder of prominent attorney Dana Seetahal on him.

Abu Bakr was one of 10 men taken into custody early yesterday morning, as police executed search warrants at their homes in pre-dawn operations.

“They came in the wee hours of the morning, about 4 30 a.m. and they woke them up from their sleep,” Fuad Abu Bakr told reporters as supporters gathered outside the Central Police Station in Port of Spain where his father remained overnight as he awaited questioning today.

“They forcefully came into their homes, they ransacked the whole place searching with a warrant for arms and ammunition. I don’t know what my father, a 74-year-old man, is going to do with a gun at this age. It is ridiculous.”

Police sources have told several media outlets that the men were allegedly implicated in telephone recordings obtained during investigations into the May 4, 2014 assassination of Seetahal.

The senior counsel was shot multiple times in her head and chest, by the occupants of two vehicles that pulled up alongside her SUV as she was driving home around 12:05 a.m.

Although neither confirming nor denying that Abu Bakr was to be questioned in connection with the Seetahal case, acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams said the investigation was “heavily based on matters of technology”.

After visiting his father, who led the 1990 attempt to overthrow the government, Fuad said there was no basis for him to be questioned for that crime, and he was merely a scapegoat.

“For an old man who has tried to come out of the public light to be arrested for something as preposterous as this . . . My father has been persecuted, in my opinion, a number of times. They have charged him for many different things and they have not been able to convict him for anything,” he said.

“It certainly is no coincidence that the Imam has also been arrested in the lead-up to the September 7 general election. Is it that the People’s Partnership Government is attempting to score political points before voting day?” he added in a press release. “Does the government want another state of emergency in order to delay the general elections?”

Despite the “persecution”, the Muslim leader’s son said his father remained in good spirits.

“He is aware of what is transpiring. He feels in good spirits and is confident that goodness, righteousness and what is right will prevail,” he told reporters.
Fuad Abu Bakr addresses the media

Meantime, Jamaat member Lorris Ballack also argued that the arrests were another instance of the police harassment that began after the failed coup attempt.

“We have not stopped paying for the actions of 1990. Even though we had an amnesty, we are still paying. I feel we will have to keep paying for the rest of our living life,” he said.

IMAGES:
FUAD ABU BAKR, SON OF JAMAAT AL MUSLIMEEN LEADER YASIN ABU BAKR, SPEAKING TO REPORTERS AFTER VISING HIS FATHER AT THE POLICE STATION WHERE HE HAS BEEN DETAINED SINCE YESTERDAY MORNING. (PHOTO: TRINIDAD EXPRESS)
WIFE OF YASIN ABU BAKR, ANNISA, AND HIS SON, FUAD, HOLD HANDS IN THE FOYER OF THE NATIONAL LIBRARY YESTERDAY AFTER VISITING THE IMAM. (PHOTO: ANISTO ALVES/TRINIDAD EXPRESS)

For more on this story and video go to: http://www.caribbean360.com/news/police-accused-of-trying-to-pin-murder-of-attorney-on-muslim-leader-abu-bakr#ixzz3gXRvyVvK

Related story:

Leader of Trinidad attempted coup held in investigation into murder of prominent lawyer

From CARIBBEAN360

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Monday July 20, 2015 – The Islamic leader who tried to overthrow the Trinidad government 25 years ago has been held by police for questioning in connection with last year’s death of prosecutor Dana Seetahal.

Media reports indicate that law enforcement officers from various branches of the police force executed a search warrant at Yasin Abu Bakr’s home and mosque in the capital early this morning.

The police were looking for guns, ammunition and “documents”, it was reported, but it is unclear what, if anything, they were able to find. But Abu Bakr, the 73-year-old leader of the Jamaat al Muslimeen, and nine other men were detained.

According to the Trinidad Express newspaper, Abu Bakr is expected to face questions about the Seetahal case this afternoon.

DANA SEETAHAL WAS SHOT SEVERAL TIMES IN THE HEAD AND CHEST.

Seetahal, 58, was shot multiple times in her head and chest by the occupants of two vehicles which pulled up alongside her SUV as she was driving home on May 4, 2014 around 12:05 a.m.

No one has yet been charged in connection with her assassination.
For more: http://www.caribbean360.com/news/police-detain-leader-of-trinidad-attempted-coup-in-death-of-prominent-lawyer#ixzz3gXCUBzcC