Four of the 12 men charged with assassinating Senior Counsel Dana Seetahal were offered immunity in exchange for testifying against their co-accused.
The accusation was made yesterday by the men's lawyer, Criston J Williams, as they reappeared before Chief Magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar in the Port-of-Spain Eighth Magistrate's Court for the continuation of their case.
As requested that the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) disclose all information on the alleged offers to assist in preparing the men's defence Williams said:
"I am instructed that they were told that they and their families would be relocated to a foreign country of their choice."
Williams also requested that the DPP's office release all taped telephone conversations between his clients in which alleged code words were used as well as GPS evidence linking them to the scene of the crime.
In response, State prosecutor Tricia Hudlin-Cooper assured Williams that disclosure would take place as soon as evidence was handed over to her office by investigators.
During yesterday's hearing Williams also attempted to present an oral application calling for Ayers-Caesar to recuse herself from the case.
A similar application was made earlier this year in Ali's other case in which he is accused of conspiring to murder radio announcer Kevaughn "Lurbz" Savory in November last year. That application was eventually approved by Ayers-Caesar who reassigned the case to Senior Magistrate Ejenny Espinet.
The men's application is premised on the allegation that some members of the Criminal Gang and Intelligence Unit (CGIU) which investigated the case were also assigned to Ayers-Caesar's security detail.
Williams' application was not entertained yesterday as Ayers-Caesar suggested it be done in writing.
She then gave Williams a deadline of October 16 to file the application and adjourned the case to November 5.
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?Ali, whose family operates the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen's mosque in Carapo, Arima, shot to fame last year after it was revealed he was a co-ordinator in the controversial LifeSport programme.
In December last year, Ali and five members of his mosque were charged with conspiring to murder SLAM 100.5 radio announcer Kevaughn "Lerbz" Savory. They were also slapped with charges under the Anti-Gang Act which precluded them from being granted bail.
On July 27, this year, Ali was among 12 members of the mosque who were charged for the murder of Senior Counsel Dana Seetahal who was assassinated in Woodbrook on May 4 last year. Three others are charged under the Anti-Gang Act for allegedly facilitating the gang in Seetahal's murder.
Ali's younger bother, Ishmael, is charged with both crimes while his older brother, Hassan, is only charged with Seetahal's murder.