Noble Khan grilled for 3 hours

But yesterday was one Tuesday when he did not go to Parliament. Instead, he had to attend court as a witness for the prosecution in the case brought against Jamaat al Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr.

Khan admitted that it was his first time in court. His name was mentioned by Bakr in his Eid sermon to his followers at the Mucurapo Mosque on November 4.

One of the four charges laid against Bakr was that he had unlawfully incited persons present at the Eid celebrations at the Mucurapo Mosque to demand with menace, or by force, property of Noble Khan, with intent to steal from same.

Khan, of Old St Joseph Road, Laventille, was the eighth witness called by special prosecutor Dana Seetahal before Chief Magistrate Sherman Mc Nicolls in the Port-of-Spain Eighth Magistrates’ Court.

Khan said he was a retired public officer. He now serves as the secretary of the Inter-Religious Organisation (IRO), a body of which he was president from 1999 to 2001. He is also a council member of the Trinidad Muslim League.

He started his evidence-in-chief at 2 pm, but soon came under intense cross-examination from defence attorney Pamela Elder SC. Before a court packed mostly with Bakr’s followers, the court note-taker had a lot of trouble understanding the Muslim phrases and names. That took some time in getting it right.

The cross-examination ended at 4.20 pm, but that was not the end of the case. The note-taker had to read over all of Khan’s evidence which he had earlier given. That took the case to just before five o’clock.

Earlier, Aracelys Carolina De Oliverio, an employee of Aeropostal Airlines for the past three months, gave evidence. She described herself as a translator and transcriber, a job which she has been doing for the past 12 years.

The other witness giving evidence yesterday was Brent Stewart, who is employed with CNC 3 television station as a video editor/cameraman. He was on duty at the station on November 4 when Bakr gave his Eid sermon at Mucurapo Road.

Hearing will continue on Monday with the final two witnesses to be called by lead prosecutor Douglas Mendes SC.