A High Court judge has ordered the police to produce a 31-year-old man, who has been detained since last week Friday, in court before midday today. Kassiedath Krishnanan, of Palmyra Village, is allegedly being held under the Emergency Powers regulations which govern the state of emergency, although it was declared from midnight on Sunday. His father, Rajkumar Krishnanan, through attorney Subhas Panday, filed the habeas corpus writ in the San Fernando High Court on Wednesday. In granting the application yesterday, Justice Ricky Rahim said the matter was fit for urgent hearing during the court vacation.
He ordered that a writ of habeas corpus "be issued to the defendant to have the body of Kassiedath Krishnanan produced before a judge of the High Court on Friday 26 August 2011 at 12 pm in courtroom SF14, together with the day and cause of him being detained that the judge may then examine and determine whether such cause is lawful." Kassiedath was arrested on August 19 at New Grant, Princes Town, after two guns were allegedly found in his car. He was charged with possession of arms and ammunition between Sunday and Monday morning. On Tuesday, he was placed on an identification parade at the Marabella Police Station, but was not pointed out, court documents stated.
Krishnanan stated that his son was brought to San Fernando on Wednesday and kept in a vehicle outside the court. He said sometime afterwards, an officer indicated that he received a call to return him to the station. "When his attorney-at-law Subhas Panday inquired why he was not placed before the court, an officer said that the country is now under a state of emergency and the police could detain him for seven days without giving an excuse to anyone," the document stated. Panday subsequently wrote a letter to the senior officer at the Marabella Police Station, requesting that his client be brought before the court by midday Wednesday, but he did not respond to Panday's request.