Social activist Umar Abdullah has been given permission to pursue a lawsuit over a decision by Police Commissioner Erla Harewood-Christopher to block him from burning a replica of the T&T Police Service (TTPS) flag during a protest over police-involved killings last year.
Abdullah’s lawyers filed the judicial review lawsuit earlier this month and were granted leave to pursue it by High Court Judge Kevin Ramcharan, this week.
Abdullah, of the First Wave Movement, said last October he applied to Harewood-Christopher for permission for a public march. He claimed he decided to lead the march as he was concerned about an increase in extra judicial killings.
“I strongly believe that the police have been killing the youth of T&T with impunity and the mechanisms in place to address these extra judicial killings or police killings are failing this nation,” Abdullah said.
“The purpose of the march was for citizens to be able to take a stance against the issue of extra judicial killings and the urgent need for accountability by members of the TTPS.”
Harewood-Christopher granted permission for the march but Abdullah was not permitted to burn the replica as the CoP said the proposed activity could incite public protest and cause serious public disorder.
Abdullah’s lawyers made a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for Harewood-Christopher to disclose the factors she considered for her decision but filed the lawsuit after she failed to respond.
Referring to the Summary Offences Act, which prescribes the process of applying for permission for a public march, Abdullah’s lawyers claimed that the CoP did not have the power to impose conditions related to the proposed flag burning.
“While strictly speaking there is no need to request permission from the Commissioner of Police to burn the said flag, the intended applicant was transparent and open about all activities that would occur on that date,” attorney Shalini Sankar said.
“The Commissioner of Police has no good reason and/or lawful reason for denying the intended applicant’s application and therefore it is to be presumed that he acted irrationally and/or unreasonably an/or took into account irrelevant considerations and/or failed to consider relevant and material matters in arriving at her decision,” she said.
Abdullah is seeking a series of declarations against the decision, an order quashing it and another compelling Harewood-Christopher to reconsider.
He is also being represented by Kiel Taklalsingh, Rhea Khan and Keron Ramkhalwhan.
The case is scheduled to come up for hearing on April 15.