(Trinidad Express) The brother of murdered Senior Counsel Dana Seetahal is questioning the timing of the arrests and charging of 11 men in connection with his sister’s murder.
The men, including former LifeSport programme co-ordinator Rajaee Ali, have been charged with the May 3, 2014 killing as well as other offences under anti-gang legislation.
But while the police service celebrates a victory in what Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Glenn Hackett described as the most challenging case of his career, Omar Seetahal told the Sunday Express yesterday that not only is any celebration of victory premature, but he wondered if his sister’s case was being used to boost the dwindling image of the police service.
Speaking with the Sunday Express by telephone yesterday evening, Seetahal said crime has been on the rise in recent days. He referred to the murder of four members of a Chatham family shortly after one of them reported information of a crime to the police. He noted that this and other matters have contributed to the erosion of public confidence in the police service, and suggested that a press briefing held yesterday at Police Administration Building in Port of Spain to announce the charges for 11 men, was more about restoring the police image than about justice for his sister.
“When I looked at the news briefing, a good half of the briefing was spent by the DCP praising various departments of the police force and thanking them for their help in the matter, talking about how hard they worked and all that, as though the matter has been solved and they have gotten a conviction,” he said.
“They talked about how competent they were in this matter and how complex this matter was and how they had to use modern cutting-edge technology to solve this matter. I find that a little odd that they are acting like the matter has now come to a conclusion.”
Seetahal also suggested that the 11 men charged had no motive to want to kill his sister and that there was more to investigate.
“These 11 people, nine of them are in their twenties, most of them are from Carapo, what do they have to benefit from Dana’s death?” he asked. “What would they have killed Dana for? I’m not saying they didn’t but why would they have done it? Therefore the question has to be asked if they have gotten all the people involved.”
He added that while he could not speak for the entire family, to him, the arrests have brought no closure. He however said he would be attending the court hearings as he felt it was his duty to be there.
