Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles has accused the Government of pushing the country toward a “policing state” and called on Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to end the state of emergency (SoE).In a statement issued yesterday, Beckles criticised the arrests of social media commentator Jason De Silva and Alyssa Phillip following a demonstration Wednesday near the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in Port of Spain. Relatives and friends of Kaia Sealy held a protest demanding answers over why she has been charged in connection with the killing of her common-law husband, Joshua Samaroo, during a police-involved shooting in January in St Augustine.
‘No BADJOHN TALK’:Mickela Panday
“Freedom trembles in these times. Trinidad and Tobago should never, ever find itself on the brink of becoming a policing state,” Beckles stated.She said the arrests “sent chills down the spines of every right-thinking person” and argued that the police response appeared disproportionate. “Especially when followed by callous gun talk from an absentee PM,” Beckles added.Calling for an end to the SoE, she urged Persad-Bissessar to “return democracy to its unfettered position contemplated by our Constitution”.The Opposition Leader claimed the Government was selectively responding to protests, alleging that demonstrations linked to supporters of the ruling United National Congress were treated differently.She referenced a protest in Siparia also held on Wednesday by UNC members of the Siparia Borough Corporation calling for the resignation of alderman Victor Roberts, who had crossed the political floor from the UNC to the PNM, and accused the Prime Minister of “turning a blind eye” to those demonstrations while condemning others.She also argued that Persad-Bissessar’s comments on the Kaia Sealy matter could prejudice ongoing legal proceedings. Persad-Bissessar on Wednesday criticised protesters, saying she had no time for “victim gimmickry”.“As a Senior Counsel in law, she knows all too well that her statements can be used by attorneys as unnecessary pre-trial publicity,” Beckles stated.She further pointed to a May 24 TTPS media release stating that protests were not expressly prohibited under the SoE regulations.“No country can survive when peaceful citizens are treated like enemies of the State,” she said.The Express also contacted Opposition Chief Whip Marvin Gonzales yesterday regarding Persad-Bissessar’s position that she would have “no issue” extending the SoE if advised to do so by the National Security Council.“She’s chair of the National Security Council. Expect her to give self-serving advice to herself,” Gonzales said.He argued that any extension of the SoE would amount to “an admission of failure and evidence that she lied when she told the country that she had a crime plan”.Panday: Bring a crime planMeanwhile, Mickela Panday, political leader of The Patriotic Front, in a Facebook post yesterday criticised Persad-Bissessar’s description of the Kaia Sealy protesters as “grifters”, saying this showed not strength, but contempt.“If anyone breaks the law, let the law take its course. But citizens must not be broadly smeared because they speak, gather, question, or express concern about the use of State power,” she said.She stressed when citizens are mocked for speaking, democracy becomes weaker.“When emergency powers become the substitute for an anti-crime strategy, everyone should be concerned. Trinidad and Tobago does not need badjohn talk. It needs a crime plan.”
