Jamaat won marginal seats for PNM

YASIN ABU BAKR, leader of the Jamaat al Muslimeen, said yesterday that his organisation assisted the ruling People’s National Movement (PNM) in winning the marginal seats in the last general elections. Under cross-examination by lead prosecutor Sir Timothy Cassel QC, Bakr said members of the Jamaat went around campaigning and telling people to vote for the PNM. Bakr completed his defence yesterday before Justice Mark Mohammed in the Port-of-Spain Third Criminal Court. Hearing resumes on Monday.

(Bakr was further cross-examined by Sir Timothy Cassel QC)

CASSEL: Yesterday, when I asked you some questions, you didn’t answer, you just rambled on. I would like your answers please.
BAKR: I will try my best.
CASSEL: In 2003, you were a contractor and an officer with UNESCO? And a financial advisor?
BAKR: I was a financial advisor on the project at Petrotrin.
CASSEL: You could work at different jobs at different times?
BAKR: I do both.
CASSEL: You say you are an officer with UNESCO?
BAKR: I have been employed as a member of staff with UNESCO for the past 24 years.
CASSEL: Were you employed by UNESCO in this country?
BAKR: Yes.
CASSEL: Can you tell us where?
BAKR: In the African region. I am a staff member with the World Islamic Care Society, which is an umbrella body of UNESCO.
CASSEL: Who is the head of UNESCO in this country? Or the Previous head?
BAKR: I don’t know their names.
CASSEL: So you don’t know the names Suren Goolraj and Dr Winthrop?
BAKR: No.
CASSEL: Are you aware that inquiries were made by me of these two gentlemen?
BAKR: I am not aware of that.
CASSEL: I am putting to you that you have never been a member of staff of UNESCO or a consultant.
BAKR: You are wrong.
CASSEL: Well tell us, who have you been in contact with?
BAKR: The Hon Muhammed Sheriff, the executive secretary of the World Islamic Care Society.
CASSEL: Let us go to the conversation with Brent Miller at your home when he says you told him you he was going to see the Prime Minister and the Commissioner of Police. When you were interviewed by Mr Forde and Mr Veronique, you said you spoke to Mr Manning about getting the youths off the streets.
BAKR: Yes, that’s true.
CASSEL: You also said that the Jamaat was responsible for the PNM winning the marginal seats.
BAKR: If it is there, I said it.
CASSEL: You had a relationship with the Prime Minister and the PNM?
BAKR: Yes. I also told the police that Mrs Joan Yuille-Williams was my friend. She is the head of the Community Development, and I do community work, so I interact with her.
CASSEL: Is the Prime Minister a friend?
BAKR: The Prime Minister is not a friend, not at that level. I have had less interaction with the Prime Minister than I had with Joan Yuille-Williams.
CASSEL: How would you call them?
BAKR: I will call both of them casual, the Prime Minister was.
CASSEL: How did you help the PNM win the marginal seats?
BAKR: In this society, I am entitled to exercise my franchise to vote for the party of my choice.
I am a very influential person in the society, you know that. I helped them win with the people in the society.
CASSEL: But how did you do that, with one vote?
BAKR: We spoke to the people in the election campaign.
CASSEL: So you were canvassing?
BAKR: Yes, going around and encouraging people to vote for the PNM.
CASSEL: How many members of the Jamaat were involved in this campaign?
BAKR: A couple hundreds.
CASSEL: Did the Prime Minister owe you anything for that?
BAKR: No.
CASSEL: Was that the reason for telling Brent Miller you were going to see the Prime Minister?
BAKR: No, the Prime Minister owes me nothing.
CASSEL: What about Mr Snaggs, was he your friend?
BAKR: A casual acquaintance.
CASSEL: Do you remember during the interview with the police asking for a glass of water?
BAKR: No.
CASSEL: Do you remember telling the police about UNESCO, that we are still in a colonial era, the CCJ struggle to be the final court, the House of Lords, the person who is poor and can’t get out of poverty?
BAKR: Yes.
CASSEL: You said you knew Mr Snaggs for about five years at the Mounted Branch. Is it a coincidence that Brent Miller says you were going to see the Prime Minister and the Commissioner of Police?
BAKR: I did not tell Brent Miller anything about the Prime Minister and the Commissioner of Police.
CASSEL: How did he know you knew the Prime Minister and the Commissioner of Police?
BAKR: I don’t know what operates in two minds.
CASSEL: Mr Reyes and Mr Joseph, can you tell me about them? You said in the interview that Kazim was in a problem with the Sabga situation, a lot of members worked to expel him, you did not. Mr Reyes and Mr Joseph have some information which is the genesis to the problem with Brent, they would help in this matter.
BAKR: Mr Reyes is a senior police officer, Mr Joseph is also a senior police officer. They were present on more than one occasion when I brought in persons wanted by the police. I was speaking generally about people in the streets.
CASSEL: When did you first learn that Sgt Dick wanted to create a case against you?
BAKR: I heard that long before I was arrested.
CASSEL: Who told you that?
BAKR: Bassie, Joseph, one Senil, about five people told me that before. They told me that Mr Dick wanted to set me up. They said I was responsible for many of the problems in the country. If they take me down, the gang warfare will stop in the country.
CASSEL: But did that worry you?
BAKR: Not really. It concerned me that someone will go to the Minister of National Security and request my death. The police harass my members all the time. The police follow me around sometimes. I am happy, because if someone wanted to do me something, they won’t. When I turn in to my gate, sometimes I wave at them. Sometimes they wave back, sometimes they don’t. I wasn’t really concerned that the police wanted to set me up. But this was person, after person, after person.
CASSEL: Didn’t curiosity make you ask these questions?
BAKR: If I have to worry about the numerous adverse things about me, I will have nothing else to do. I said Mr Dick was saying how he wanted to set me up. For him, it would be upward mobility, because I am a big fish.
CASSEL: Big Fish?
BAKR: Mr Cassel, Big Fish is a local thing.
CASSEL: I know what Big Fish is.
BAKR: There is someone sitting on this desk who is part of the conspiracy against me. I have protected him all along.
CASSEL: Who?
BAKR: As I said before, I am not going to divulge that person.
CASSEL: You are making an allegation against an unknown person?
BAKR: Yes.
CASSEL: Let us go to the alibi. In your interview with the police, you said you got up at 4.30 every morning, had breakfast about 7 o’clock and then take off for Petrotrin.
BAKR: That is what I said.
CASSEL: It is said that you are a financial advisor with Johnson-Simon?
BAKR: Yes.
CASSEL: But you do not work in the hot sun?
BAKR: No.
CASSEL: You have the privilege to have a driver?
BAKR: Occasionally. Mr Williams went with me most of the times.
CASSEL: You were not working regularly?
BAKR: On the days I was required to be, I was there.
CASSEL: Four days in May and one day in June?
BAKR: On the days I was required to be at Petrotrin, I was at Petrotrin.
CASSEL: It was not frequent?
BAKR: It depends on what you mean by frequent.
CASSEL: So you heard Mr Denoon say nobody picked up the pass on the 4th of June?
BAKR: I have been in and out of Petrotrin without a pass.
CASSEL: Why was an application made for a pass for you when you needed no pass?
BAKR: The secretary of Johnson-Simon made the application that morning for me and the driver.
CASSEL: Do you know if anyone went to the Pass Office to pick up the pass?
BAKR: I don’t know. I have said that I have been to West Area Salvage on many occasions without a pass. I was told that somebody requested a pass for me. I did not go to pick up any pass.
CASSEL: The reason you didn’t go to pick up the pass was because you were not at Petrotrin that day.
BAKR: You are wrong, I have since been told I was there.
CASSEL: The reason why Salim and Kazim were expelled was because they were dealing in drugs?
BAKR: I don’t want to assassinate their character, but they were involved in criminal activities. If they were in drugs, they were dealing in money. If they were in kidnapping, they would be earning money. That is called Harang. That money cannot be taken by any religious leader to be used for any purposes.
CASSEL: Concerning the meeting in the bedroom, you heard Brent Danglade say he walked out of the room without hearing anything? Brent Danglade said your complaint against Salim was because you were not getting any money from his criminal activities?
BAKR: What I heard is that Brent Danglade walked out of the room, and that I gave him $500. I must be crazy. I could say I am Santa Claus, when I am not Santa Claus. I could say anything, I was never in that room.
CASSEL: Thank you, Mr Abu Bakr.
(No re-examination).

(Witness examined by Owen Hinds Jr)

My name is Coleen Marchand. In June 2003, I was the executive secretary of Johnson Simon General Contractors based at West Area Salvage, Pointe-a-Pierre.
We started the project in April 2003. The majority of workers we had on that site was 20. People were working there on a daily basis. Once I was informed we were going to have a visit, I would write to the Salvage Department of Petrotrin requesting a pass for the person or the vehicle. The Salvage Department would get the pass from the Police Department.
If someone showed up without a pass, I would put it in the book, the time they arrived and what vehicle.
HINDS: Do you know the accused?
MARCHAND: Yes. He was employed as a temporary worker, first as the financial advisor and then as the Project Manager.
HINDS: Did the accused visit the site?
MARCHAND: On many occasions.
HINDS: Did you apply for passes for him?
MARCHAND: Yes. For the West Salvage area.
HINDS: Did the accused ever visit the area without a pass?
MARCHAND: Yes, I would log the time arrived at the site and the vehicle number he came in with. I would make those records. If I was not on the site, a secretary would take notes and we would compile it when I come back to the office.
HINDS: Could you tell us when was the first visit by the accused?
MARCHAND: Thursday, the 1st of April 2003, no time recorded.
HINDS: Tell us the other times.
MARCHAND: the 5th of May, the 6th of May, the 13th of May, the 26th of May, the 27th of May, the 3rd of June, the 4th of June, the 10th of June, the 11th of June, and the 8th of September. The accused visited on two occasions on the 4th of June. 10.45 to 11.05 am and 11.10 to 11.45 am.
On the 4th of June, I applied for two passes for the accused, a weekly pass and a temporary pass. The temporary pass was applied for on the 4th of June.
HINDS: Why was this so?
MARCHAND: We had some problems before this day in acquiring passes for the Imam. We had to apply for weekly passes for all our employees. Seeing that he was coming that morning, I applied for a temporary pass because he needed one to get on the site. I was awaiting transport at the gate to go on the site when I saw the Imam already on the site. It made no sense to go back to the Police Department at the gate to get a pass. When I saw the accused he was already on the compound in the vehicle of the contractor.
HINDS: How did you remember that date?
MARCHAND: On the 3rd of June, I had a maintenance matter at the Siparia Magistrates Court. The Imam promised to get medicine for me because I was sick. He said he had to get it from the forest. On the 4th I reminded him about the medicine, but he said it was far in the forest and he had to get someone to go and get it for me.

(Cross-examined by Cassel)
CASSEL: Did you meet Mr Abu Bakr before the 1st of April?
MARCHAND: I knew him a few weeks before. I knew him on a business basis, I was not personal with him. I was a bit friendly with him, like many other people.
CASSEL: Tell us how you remembered early June.
MARCHAND: I had a maintenance matter on the 3rd of June. That was the first time I appeared in court, and it was also the birthday of a close friend.
CASSEL: Did you speak to the Imam that day?
MARCHAND: Yes, I spoke to him when I was awaiting transportation to get onto the site. He was leaving at 12.55 pm.
CASSEL: How far is Siparia from Pointe-a-Pierre?
MARCHAND: About an hour and a half.
CASSEL: Was the matter before a judge?
MARCHAND: A magistrate at the Siparia Magistrates Court. When I got the appointment, I asked for an early hearing because I had to go back to work. It was the second or the third matter. The court sits at 9 am as this court. This matter did not last very long, a few minutes.
It was just a matter of me having an attorney, me replying, asking the defendant if he had an attorney. That was all.
CASSEL: When was the exact date after that, 2003?
MARCHAND: I can’t give the exact date. But the matter ended in November 2004.
CASSEL: How many hearings were there?
MARCHAND: I can’t say, I can’t say roughly.
CASSEL: Who was this case against?
MARCHAND: That is my personal business.
CASSEL: I want to check.
MARCHAND: I have put that behind me, because it will come out in the newspapers. I would give the name on the guarantee that it wouldn’t be put in the media.
CASSEL: I put to you that the entry on the 4th of June was wrong.
MARCHAND: It is not wrong, because I made it myself.
CASSEL: I have no more questions. Thank you.