3 deemed as terrorists

Granting the order this week was Justice Frank Seepersad, who was asked to declare Trinidadian national Abdel Nur; a former member of parliament in Guyana, Abdul Kadir; and US naturalised Guyanese national Russell De Freitas terrorists. The judge has also ordered that all the assets of the three men should be frozen.

A copy of the judge’s order has to be published by the AG within seven days, in both the Gazette and two daily newspapers. The order is to be reviewed every six months and had previously been granted by the High Court. A similar order had been previously sought for TT national Kareem Ibrahim, who was sentenced to life as a co-conspirator in the JFK airport terrorist attack. However, Ibrahim, died in a US prison on January 20, 2016.

Seepersad’s order is also be transmitted by international courier to the US Department of Justice, so that the three can receive it at the penitentiaries where they are incarcerated. The director of the Financial Intelligence Unit in TT will also be served with a copy of the order.

Section 22(b) of Anti-Terrorism Act allows the AG’s office to apply to have terrorists’ assets frozen, provided there is sufficient evidence that they were involved in terrorism, either locally or internationally.

The application was heard ex parte.

Central to the application was evidence used to secure the conviction that was provided to the AG’s office by the United States Department of Justice.

According to the trial evidence, the conspirators tried to enlist support for the plot from prominent international terrorist groups and leaders. Ultimately, the evidence said, the plotters followed Ibrahim’s direction.