Acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams confirmed yesterday that he had received complaints about two police raids on United National Congress offices in central Trinidad and on the East West Corridor, mere days before Monday’s general elections election.
In a telephone interview, Williams said: “I have received written complaints from an attorney about an incident and then I received oral communication and complaint by the then minister Vasant Bharat. Both incidents continue to be investigated.”
Bharat had complained that he saw the raids as pure harassment from the police ahead of the elections.
On Monday, former prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said her attorneys had reported the raids to Williams, as well as observer teams from Caricom and the Commonwealth.
“I received a report that ten armed policemen entered the campaign operations centre at 3 am yesterday (Monday), saying they were searching for arms and ammunition.
“They spent two hours in one of the campaign rooms and I am not sure what they did in there for two hours. They left and no one was charged. They found nothing. They thoroughly examined our campaign documents,” Persad-Bissessar said.
On the East West Corridor, Persad-Bissessar said officers also raided another building but again found nothing.
“My lawyers have written to the Commissioner of Police with these allegations and we have also sent letters to the Election Observer teams from Caricom and the Commonwealth.
Persad-Bissessar also said despite criticisms from Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) chairman Norbert Masson that the electoral campaign “was the most brutish, acrimonious, rampageous and vitriolic” he had witnessed in all his life, she respectfully disagreed with him.
“The democratic system is well intact. We have had no serious reports of violence. There has been all kinds of allegations flying back and forth,” she said.
“In terms of my campaign speeches I have tried to deal with issues that matter most to people. I saw the headlines which said most brutish campaign but with greatest of respect, I dont believe this was brutish. It was a very civilised and democratic campaign.”
Meanwhile, the Law Association of T&T yesterday congratulated Prime Minister-elect Dr Keith Rowley and all the candidates who were on Monday elected to serve as MPs in the next sitting of Parliament.
“The people of Trinidad and Tobago are to be congratulated equally for the commendable and peaceful manner in which all went about the exercise of their franchise, giving affirmation to the democratic process and the good health of the rule of law of this country.”