Senior Reporter
derek.achong@guardian.co.tt
The T&T Police Service (TTPS) has been given until 4 pm today to charge or release a 21-year-old woman from Matura, who was held in connection with the kidnapping of Valsayn resident Jankie Satie Karim.
High Court Judge Karen Reid set the deadline yesterday evening, as she determined a habeas corpus writ brought by the woman’s lawyers led by Keron Ramkhalwhan, of Juris X Chambers.
In the application, Ramkhalwhan called on Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro to justify the woman’s continued detention. He complained that although investigators had repeatedly promised to interview his client, after she was detained when Karim was rescued from a house in Rampanalgas on Monday, they failed to do so.
“The detention and continuing detention of the applicant by the respondent, his servants and/or agents amounts to infinite detention and is unlawful, arbitrary, and unreasonable in the circumstances,” Ramkhalwhan said.
“The applicant respectfully avers that the police are deliberately using this purported “pending” interview as a false narrative to justify and prolong the applicant’s detention,” he added.
Ramkhalwhan suggested that his client could be allowed to return home to her relatives and could be easily rearrested if investigators have sufficient evidence to charge her after completing their probe.
When the case was called yesterday morning, Justice Reid adjourned it to 5 pm to give the TTPS additional time to file a response explaining the purported delays in their investigation.
In an affidavit, obtained by Guardian Media, TTPS legal officer Chinara Harewood requested reasonable time for investigators to complete their probe.
Harewood claimed that investigators were scheduled to interview the woman on Wednesday but had to postpone their plans, as they were required to assist in a separate investigation into the kidnappings of Ryan Singh and Keeran Latchman.
Singh, 18, and 21-year-old Latchman managed to escape from a forested area of Valencia, where they were held after being abducted, earlier this week.
Harewood also claimed that between Tuesday and Thursday, investigators arrested five other suspects in Karim’s kidnapping.
“As such, due to the number of persons said to be involved in the kidnapping for ransom of Jankie Satie Karim, the period of the investigation has naturally lengthened,” she said.
She also said they (investigators) were in the process of executing a search warrant at the woman’s home, which is located near the house where Karim was held captive.
Harewood suggested that despite the delays, investigators were scheduled to complete their probe last night and seek advice from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on possible charges, if any, for the woman.
In her decision, Justice Reid said the additional time should be sufficient to complete the probe in relation to the woman.
Justice Reid ruled that the woman should be immediately freed if the deadline is not met, as her detention would then be unjustified.
Karim, 44, was abducted from her Spring Village, Valsayn home on July 13. The following day, her Toyota Hilux, which was stolen by her attackers and used by them to carry her away, was found abandoned in Arouca.
A ransom demand was reportedly received by her relatives.
On Monday, a highly specialised team of police officers led by Guevarro raided the house in Rampanalgas, where Karim was being held captive.
One of her abductors reportedly attempted to use her as a human shield but was shot dead by police officers.
Hours later, police officers probing the kidnapping attempted to execute a search warrant at the D’Abadie home of a suspect.
The suspect reportedly confronted the officers with a gun and was shot and killed. He was later identified as 24-year-old Zechariah Williams, of Old Piarco Road, Red Hill, D’Abadie.
The female suspect was also represented by Shalini Sankar and Anwar Hosein.
The TTPS was also represented by Naiomi Herbert.
