Murder accused and alleged gang leader, Rajaee Ali, is claiming prisons officers are seeking to have him killed. According to Ali’s attorney, Criston Williams, he spoke with his client yesterday and he was told officers had threatened him.
CNC3 was informed yesterday by fellow inmates of the plot which Williams verified to the T&T Guardian following a meeting with his client.
According to the CNC3 report, an inmate stated that an officer, who was identified, has been asking his subordinates to stage an attack and murder Ali. The officer also suggested a knife be planted on Ali’s body so that their alibi would be airtight.
The plot to murder Ali, the inmates claim, has been brewing since 2013 after colleagues of the officers were killed, supposedly on instructions from someone behind prison walls.
Williams claimed Ali was alerted to the threat and was now fearful for his life. He alleged his client’s cell was ransacked by officers and his food and personal items were destroyed while his clothes were doused with water. One officer, Williams said, was alleged to have threatened to poison Ali. Ali, however, is fasting for the month of Ramadan.
Ali, who is accused of murdering Dana Seetahal, SC, and conspiring to murder radio announcer Kevaughn “Lerbz” Savory, as well as being the leader of a gang, is classified as a high risk inmate.
Williams said he wanted to have an urgent meeting with Commissioner of Prisons, Sterling Stewart, on the matter. Attempts to contact Stewart were unsuccessful last night as calls to his cellphone went unanswered and there was no reply to a text message sent.
But in a telephone interview last night, Prisons Officers Association secretary Gerard Gordon described the threat as “speed talk”. He said his officers would not stoop to such depths, adding Ali is not the first high risk prisoner his officers have dealt with and he will not be the last.
“Despite what people say, officers act in a manner that is responsible. Prisons officers are not gangsters and they will not operate in that manner,” Gordon said.