IF businessman Dominic Hadeed is not released from prison detention soon, his health could deteriorate to the point where he suffers permanent damage or even loses his life.That was the warning from Hadeed’s legal team yesterday as he and his wife, Genevieve, appeared via a virtual link from prison during a marathon High Court hearing over their continued detention under the state of emergency (SoE).
JUDGE: Vigel Paul
Justice Vigel Paul heard more than five hours of submissions before declining to immediately fast-track the couple’s constitutional challenge.Instead, he dealt with a series of procedural issues, allowing their attorneys to file an application seeking to have their medical expert recognised by the court before the matter returns on July 17.The latest courtroom battle came just one day after the Hadeeds filed an appeal against an earlier ruling of Justice Frank Seepersad, who refused on June 30 to order their release pending the determination of their claim for judicial review.In that appeal, the couple contend that Justice Seepersad placed undue reliance on untested intelligence alleging they were involved in a conspiracy to assassinate Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Attorney General John Jeremie and other senior Government officials, while giving insufficient weight to their constitutional right to liberty.They are seeking an order from the Court of Appeal directing their immediate release or, alternatively, allowing them to remain confined at their Westmoorings home under police supervision until their constitutional claim is determined.Hadeed’s medical condition Yesterday’s proceedings, however, centred largely on Dominic Hadeed’s medical condition.In a Certificate of Urgency filed before the court, his attorneys argued that the matter required the court’s “immediate attention” because his continued detention was already affecting his health.“The conditions of detention have prevented him from receiving the long-standing medical care which he had been prescribed and has been receiving prior to detention and which he requires, with the result that there is a real possibility of long-term permanent damage to his health and a real risk to his life,” the application stated.The application further warned that Hadeed, the owner of Blue Waters Products Ltd, has “serious and in some respects life-threatening medical conditions” that cannot be adequately managed while he remains in custody.According to the court filing, Hadeed suffers from Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a progressive neurological disorder that requires uninterrupted daily physiotherapy to prevent further muscle deterioration and loss of mobility.He is also being treated for Chronic Lymphocytic Lymphoma/Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma, a blood cancer that has left him immunocompromised and particularly vulnerable to infection.The filing said he also suffers from chronic thrombocytopenia, which significantly increases the risk of severe bleeding following even minor trauma.His attorneys argued that the conditions under which he is being held have compounded those risks.“He is presently held in unsanitary conditions,” the application stated, adding that he has been unable to properly use the medically prescribed CPAP machine “upon which he depends each night to breathe safely while he sleeps”.Instead, he has been forced at times to rely on “a less efficient substitute battery-powered portable machine”.The urgency application also warned that Hadeed’s “current environment exposes him to an increased risk of both physical trauma and infectious illness”, concerns that are heightened because of his compromised immune system and bleeding disorder.
