(Trinidad Guardian) The High Court has granted an order brought by Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi to freeze the funds of Shane Crawford under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Following the move yesterday, Al-Rawi said the Government will continue to use all legal means at its disposal “to combat terrorism in all its forms.”
Crawford, also known as “Abu Sa’d at-Trinidadi” and as “Asadullah,” was among a number of people sanctioned by the United States on Thursday as “Specially Designated Global Terrorists,” for alleged involvement in ISIS.
Al-Rawi yesterday filed an application under the Anti-Terrorism Act to freeze the funds in accordance with Section 22B(1)(b) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, Chapter 12:0. He sought an Order of the High Court declaring Crawford to be a listed entity and freezing his funds. The order was granted.
The order, according to the AG, followed months of “intelligence sharing and investigative co-operation between Trinidad and Tobago and our foreign counterparts, including the United States and United Kingdom.”
Al-Rawi said unlike other jurisdictions where the process of designating terrorist entities is administrative, Trinidad and Tobago’s listing mechanism is a judicial process, whereby the Attorney General “has an obligation to make an application to the High Court only where there is sufficient evidence to satisfy the High Court that the requisite standard of proof has been met.”
He attributed the success to the joint efforts of the Ministry of National Security (Strategic Services Agency and Immigration Division), Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (Financial Investigations Branch and Special Branch), Financial Intelligence Unit and the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs (Registrar General’s Department, Central Authority and Anti-Terrorism Desk).
Crawford is now the 341st individual or entity listed in accordance with Section 22B of the Anti-Terrorist Act and the fifth designation by this country in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373 (2001).
Al-Rawi said the action against Crawford represents a new threshold in this country’s fight against terrorism and the spread of violent extremism ideologies. He said “vigorous work continues domestically and with our international partners in respect of Mr Crawford and other persons and entities of interest.”
Crawford was detained in the 2011 state of emergency as part of an alleged plot to assassinate former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. He left for Syria shortly after being freed from detention.
However, Crawford’s mother Joan Crawford was quoted in a T&T Guardian interview in February as saying she does not know if he is still alive. She said she had been told by people on the ground in Syria that he had been killed during fighting there.
