Bakr to stand trial for murder plot

JAMAAT AL MUSLIMEEN leader Yasin Abu Bakr was yesterday committed to stand trial at the High Court on a charge of conspiracy to murder. Bakr stood still in the dock at the Port-of-Spain Fourth Magistrates’ Court as Chief Magistrate Sherman Mc Nicolls  ruled that a prima facie case had been made out against the Muslimeen leader. After ordering that Bakr  stand trial, Mc Nicolls then placed him on $250,000 bail with a surety. Mc Nicolls then named one of Bakr’s wives, Indrani Maria Maharaj, of Long Circular, Maraval, as the surety. Bakr, 63, is charged with conspiring with David ‘Buffy’ Millard and others to murder expelled Jamaat members Salim Rasheed and Zaki Aubaidah on June 4, 2003 at Citrine Drive, Diamond Vale, Diego Martin. Millard was never arrested and is said to be living abroad.

Rasheed was shot and injured outside Movie Towne Cineplex on the night of June 4, 2003. In that same incident, Casino employee Jilla Bowen was shot dead. One man, Brent “Big Brent” Miller, was charged with her murder, but the charge was dropped and Miller was granted immunity in return for his testimony against Bakr. When the inquiry resumed yesterday, Owen Hinds Jr held for Pamela Elder SC who is abroad. Acting Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard and State attorney George Busby held for deputy DPP Carla Brown-Antoine who is also out of the country. The defence called Lindsay Harnanan as its final witness. Harnanan is the manager, corporate information technology systems at TSTT. Two documents relating to telephone records were tendered into evidence through this witness.

When Harnanan had completed his testimony, Hinds said Elder had earlier made a no-case submission that no prima facie case had been made out against Bakr. Although the Chief Magistrate rejected the submission, Hinds said he wanted to make another submission. He asked Mc Nicolls to look at the evidence of the two defence witnesses in light of the prosecution’s case. Hinds asked the court to focus on two main issues. He said this inquiry started with a call on a cell phone around 10 am on June 4, 2003. That caused a witness to proceed to a house in Diego Martin and a conspiracy was hatched, according to the prosecution. Hinds said the phone records show that no such call was made to that phone around that time on the day in question. Hinds also stated that another witness testified that around 10.45 am on June 4, 2003, Bakr was at the Petrotrin compound in Pointe-a-Pierre, and therefore could not have been in Diego Martin to hatch any plan. “Look at the reports of the last witness, no calls were made from that cell phone on the fourth of June, 2003,” Hinds added.

In response, Gaspard said that the evidence adduced on the part of the defence raised questions about the credibility of the key witnesses for the State. He said credibility issues should be best left to be deliberated by a jury. Gaspard said that notwithstanding the evidence adduced by the defence, it was not enough to dislodge a finding that a prima facie case would have been made out by the prosecution. He said Bakr should be called on to stand trial on the charge of conspiracy to murder. Mc Nicolls said the evidence on a whole established a prima facie case. He said the issue of credibility was a matter for the jury. He said the court was satisfied that a prima facie case had been made out against the accused as charged. Mc Nicolls then ordered Bakr to stand trial at the next sitting of the Assizes. On the issue of bail, Gaspard had no objection. The Chief Magistrate then fixed bail in the sum of $250,000 with a surety. Newsday learnt that British Queen’s Counsel Sir Timothy Cassel has been retained by the DPP to lead the prosecution team at Bakr’s trial.