(Trinidad Express) Sections of St Vincent Street were blocked off by police yesterday in anticipation of the appearance of 11 men at the Port of Spain Magistrates’ Court to answer charges for the murder of senior counsel Dana Seetahal.
Deputy Police Commissioner Glenn Hackett has advised members of the public who have no need to be near the Port of Spain Magistrates’ Court today to stay away.
Barricades were placed along St Vincent Street near the intersections of both Duke and Queen Streets yesterday.
The entrance to the Port of Spain Magistrates’ Court is located along St Vincent Street.
St Vincent Street is a one-way street with vehicular traffic allowed in a southerly direction.
An increased number of armed police officers are also expected to be deployed today.
These are among several security initiatives which have been put in place to ensure the 11 men accused of Seetahal’s murder are brought to court and leave its precincts without incident.
Following the daring daylight jailbreak of three inmates from the Port of Spain prison on Friday, and the shooting death of a police officer, security arrangements have been further scrutinised.
On Saturday Hackett, the lead investigator in Seetahal’s murder, announced 11 people were charged with the crime.
The accused are Rajaee Ali, Hamid Ali, Davough Cummings, Ishmael Ali, Ricardo Stewart, Earl Richards, Stephan Cummings, Gareth Wiseman, Kevin Parkinson, Leston Gonzales and Roget Boucher.
They are all expected to appear before Chief Magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar at the Port of Spain Eight Magistrate’s Court today.
In addition to the murder charges, the 11 have been charged with offences under the Anti Gang Act.
Rajaee Ali has been charged with being a gang leader, while the other ten have been charged with being gang members.
In addition to the crowd anticipated for the 11 murder accused, corruption-accused Jack Warner is also scheduled to appear before Ayers-Caesar today.
Warner is before Ayers-Caesar charged with 12 offences related to racketeering, corruption and money laundering allegedly committed in the jurisdiction of the United States and Trinidad and Tobago dating as far back as 1990.
Today also marks the 25th anniversary of the July 27, 1990, attempted coup.
