National Security Minister Edmund Dillon will travel to Venezuela next Monday to discuss the detention of five of T&T’s citizens who were arrested on suspicion of terrorism charges.
This was one of the issues Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and Dillon discussed yesterday during bilateral talks between both countries at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s.
During a press conference with Maduro, Rowley confirmed that they had both agreed “to repatriate our citizens who are currently in detention on both sides.”
It was news that the families of the five detainees — Wade Charles, Dominic Pitilal, Asim Luqman, Andre Battersby and Leslie Daisley — have been hoping to hear for months now.
The men were arrested on suspicion of terrorism on March 19, 2014 after the Venezuelan intelligence Agency raided their hotel rooms in Caracas.
However, when Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi was questioned yesterday about if the men would have to face T&T’s judicial system, which would not be good news for their families, Al-Rawi said one should not be “so pessimistic.”
“Let us get the facts first. The law is not to be done at the side of a room. There is a judicial process to be followed. We certainly intend to apply transparency to the equation,” Al-Rawi said.
In commenting on the matter, Al-Rawi said the issue of Trinidadians who had been held in detention in Caracas was the subject of judicial process in Caracas.
The AG said, however, that Maduro was prepared to move quickly to have the detainees sent back to Trinidad.
Al-Rawi said both leaders were clear “to move with alacrity on the issue.”
“The issue of our citizens in Caracas is going to be the subject of a direct conversation on Monday when the Minister of National Security goes to Caracas to carry forward joint enterprise between Venezuela and Trinidad, specifically on our border and crushing, as Maduro put it, the issue of drugs and criminality,” Al-Rawi said.
How T&T would treat with the detainees upon their arrival to T&T, Al-Rawi said, was a matter for his office to manage in conjunction with Dillon’s ministry.
Insisting that a prisoner is innocent until proven guilty, Al-Rawi said: “These are allegations in a foreign territory. The method for terrorism is one which happens after conviction. Our national security network is hard at work.
“Suffice it to say, there is constant monitoring right now to matters of terrorism and any threat there. The ones of immediate concern would be the citizens on the allegations of terrorism. That we respect is a process to be followed there.”
Al-Rawi said the People’s National Movement had been tracking the detainees since they came into office. He said that move would also reactivate the joint mechanism between the two countries.
“We have specifically tracked all of the people at immigration and the detention centre. There are a number of Caricom and foreigners nationals who have been held at the Immigration Detention Centre (IDC) for inordinate periods,” he said.
He said Dillon intended to clear the IDC as quickly as possible since it was untenable for some people.
Coming out of May 30 meeting, Al- Rawi said they would know when the men would be sent back.
There are 18 Venezuelans being detained at Trinidad’s IDC.