(Trinidad Express) Commissioner of Police Dwayne Gibbs yesterday confirmed the police have not found enough evidence linking 17 men to an alleged assassination plot against Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and three Government ministers.
The Sunday Express reported exclusively this weekend the police probe into the allegations, which was led by Supt John Daniel of the North Eastern Division, was completed late last year.
Daniel submitted the file indicating there was no evidence to suggest the 17 former detainees were involved in an alleged assassination or destabilisation plot.
A senior source who was part of the investigative team had told the Express the information surrounding the alleged plot was based on hearsay but they have not found anything tangible which could support the allegations.
Commenting on the matter when questioned by reporters yesterday, Gibbs however noted that even though there is no evidence at this time to support the claim, the probe will continue.
He spoke briefly with members of the media at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Port of Spain after attending the opening of the 21st Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth.
Gibbs said: “There was information, intelligence that would suggest that there was a plot. That’s the information that we acted on. We’d be remiss if we hadn’t acted on that information to ensure the safety and security of the individuals involved.
“Coming out of that, of course our investigations so far have not revealed that there is enough evidence to take some of the charges, or to take charges to court, so we will continue on that. We’ll wait for the final evaluation on all our investigations from that point.”
Meanwhile, acting National Security Minister, Justice Minister Herbert Volney, yesterday stated Persad-Bissessar did not need any evidence to act on intelligence that there was an alleged plot to assassinate her and three Government ministers.
Volney, during a telephone interview with the Express, said the police were investigating whether any act of treason was committed after the intelligence was passed to them and their investigations have revealed no such offence had been committed.
“There is no such criminal offence of a plot. There is an offence called treason and there is no evidence of treason (and) I expect the police to have reported that. As to whether there was a plot is a national security issue and that does not require evidence for the security forces to advise the PM to act,” Volney said.
Volney, who sought to differentiate between intelligence and evidence, saying there appears to be some misunderstanding with the two by members of the media, made it quite clear the law was observed by the Government and the subsequent detention of 17 men was done based on the intelligence and not evidence.
He maintained the alleged plot, based on intelligence gathered, was real and the issue of there being a plot was a matter of national security and had nothing to do with the police.
Volney said: “What happened in this particular case is that given the intelligence that was obtained by the intelligence-gathering facilities of the State, it was determined that there was a clear and present danger to the lives of certain members of the Government. That did not rise to the level of a police investigation of treason.
“It was a national security issue and, accordingly given the powers of the Minister of National Security, he signed detention orders in respect of those persons that the intelligence-gathering organisations of the State had determined were involved in this (alleged) attempt at destablisation of the country. This information was subsequently turned over to the Commissioner of Police in order for him to see whether there is any criminal offence,” Volney said.
He said there is a distinction between arresting a person on suspicion of committing an arrestable offence which is a police matter and detaining a person under State of Emergency Regulations which is not a police matter, but that of National Security.
“What has happened is that while the national security interest determined that persons should have been detained, and they were detained under the regulations of the SoE, the police looked at what was available and the intelligence for one reason or the other that I would not go into for national security considerations.”
Sometimes, Volney said, persons who give intelligence are not prepared to come forward and sign statements in order to provide evidence to the police.
“That is just one example of how national security intelligence gathering sometimes does not turn into evidence when it is that the police investigate. So both sides are likely to be correct. Intelligence was gathered on that basis the minister (Sandy) signed the detention orders, quite legitimately and persons were detained. The police then investigated for the commission of criminal offences and they came up short with evidence, for reasons best known to them,” Volney said.
