(Trinidad Express) The Government rejected the suggestion that Pegasus software should be bought, National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds said on Monday.
And, at this point in time, the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) does not have in its possession any software used to spy on citizens, according to acting Police Commissioner McDonald Jacob.
It is however a fact that at one point during the tenure of former police commissioner Gary Griffith software was purchased to monitor the activities of criminal elements, but software in no way matched the capability of Pegasus software, Jacob said.
Both Hinds and Jacob were speaking at a news conference hosted by Hinds in Port of Spain yesterday,
Jacob denied allegations by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad–Bissessar that citizens, including journalists, magistrates and judges, were being spied upon by the State.
He said the software purchased by the TTPS under Griffith’s watch “was in two parts”.
“For a period of time, certain aspects of it were in the possession of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service and the other half was in the possession of the SSA (Strategic Security Agency). Without both merging and coming together, nothing could have happened,” he said.
Further, Jacob said the software has not as yet even been utilised since this required its operators to undergo a certain level of training. The part that was in the possession of the TTPS was eventually handed over to the SSA on September 10 of last year, he said,
This means that, currently, there is no such software in the possession of the TTPS, Jacob added.
“I got the assurance from the director of the SSA and the technical people that if there was any sort of interaction, that is to say someone had used it, it would have been able to be identified. So during the period September 10, there were no indicators on the server that the software had been used, and it is obvious, because I mentioned that training had to take place in order for this software to be utilised. Therefore, the question of the police utilising software to spy on anybody could not have taken place,” he stated.
The software was to be utilised to deal with criminal elements in the country as well as to deal with transnational crime and terrorism, he said.
“The head of SSA together with the Commissioner of Police and Chief of Defence Staff, we are the persons who will meet and discuss how and who will be able to utilise this particular software. We had no such meetings or conversations as yet in relation to it because as I know as a fact that training has to be commenced in order for it to be utilised,” he said.
Clear policy
Hinds stated that, based on the allegations made by Persad-Bissessar, she was essentially accusing the country’s security agencies of breaching the law and her statements should be outright rejected. He pointed out, at one time, Cabinet was approached to purchase the Pegasus software but that suggestion was dismissed by Government.
“So what the Leader of the Opposition is really saying is that there are people who are breaching these laws and then identifies magistrates and judges and our political opponents.
“As I said in another place recently, when police officers as far as I know are investigating crime of any nature or description they don’t see yellow or red crime. They see crime.
“So I can’t understand why the lady is trying to conduct these matters in the court of public opinion. We have a clear policy in these matters, it is the SSA and they must operate within the confines of the laws of Trinidad and Tobago.
“And as far as I am aware, that has been happening and therefore the comments by the Leader of the Opposition as had been made clear by the Prime Minister in the Parliament last Friday those comments by her are to be rejected,” said Hinds.
He pointed out the use of any equipment by any person, including law enforcement to unlawfully intercept, carried severe consequences.
If one of them (a law enforcement officer) utilises that system in an unauthorised, not judicially supported manner, serious sanctions can come to bear including as a result of breaches of serious criminal law,” he said.
