(Trinidad Guardian) Despite a pending legal action which challenges the Sedition Act and possible charges against Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha Secretary General Satnaryan Maharaj, police returned to Radio and TV Jaagriti yesterday to obtain tapes which may be linked to the case.
Around 1.30 pm, a team of officers lead by ASP Michael Veronique visited the Tunapuna media house where a warrant was read to staff by Inspector Wayne Stanley.
Maharaj, the CEO of the media house, spoke with reporters after the officers left and confirmed the officers requested tapes from April 9 and April 18 broadcast.
“This is the second raid on Jaagriti radio and TV station. In the first raid, nine police officers came, this time they increased the amount to ten. We asked them to give us a copy of the warrant, and all they do was read from a piece of paper,” said Maharaj.
He said he believed the action by the police was politically motivated.
“This is my own personal belief, that this second raid, as the first one, was inspired by the politicians. That is they are using the police, the politicians are using the police, to harass this media house because they perceive us to be against them,” said Maharaj.
However, Guardian Media was told that officers were acting on instructions from the DPP’s office concerning the ongoing sedition investigation. Based on new information which had come to hand, the officers were instructed to obtain the tapes from the station.
“I didn’t want to cause any confusion because we have nothing to hide. We asked them which one is the technical officer wants to go with our technical officer and we tell them go ahead and search for what you want,” said Maharaj.
Maharaj’s lawyer Dinesh Rambally said the police’s action rattled the staff at the media house.
A statement from the TTPS said a team of officers sought to retrieve new information for an ongoing inquiry into a Sedition investigation.
The execution of the warrant and subsequent search were incident free, the Police Service said.
