Pastor Glen Awong of the Transformed Life Ministries in Arouca has been granted $.9 million bail after he appeared in the Arima Magistrates’ Court on Friday morning charged with kidnapping, false imprisonment and trafficking in persons.
Awong and co-accused Indra Jaggernath appeared before Magistrate Cheron Raphael on charges arising out of an incident last October, in which police raided the Transformed Life Ministries and rescued 69 people who were being housed on the compound.
The court heard that Awong and Jaggernath allegedly detained and held Selwyn Beharry against his will sometime between the period January 2019 to July 2019.
Magistrate Raphael granted Awong $900,000 bail with a surety to cover the three charges. As a condition of the bail, Awong, who was represented by attorney Darren Mitchell, was asked to surrender his passport, report to the Arouca Police Station every Thursday and to make no attempt to contact the complainant, Cpl Mc Kain, in the matter.
In asking for consideration for bail, attorney Wayne Sturge, who represented Jaggernath, a church employee and mother of two prominent attorneys, told the court his client was a 61-year-old mother who had several ailments and had voluntarily submitted to an interview with the police last Tuesday.
The prosecutor did not object to bail.
In granting $300,000 bail with a surety, Magistrate Raphael ordered that Jaggernath surrender her passport, report to the Chaguanas Police Station every Thursday and make no attempt to contact the complainant.
Sturge also informed the court that the defence intended to call Guardian Media Investigative Desk Editor Mark Bassant as a witness in the case. He thus asked that the magistrate ask Bassant, who was in court for the matter, to leave the room. Bassant, who broke the story after two and a half months of investigations, complied following an instruction from the magistrate.
The matter was subsequently adjourned to January 10.
More on this story as information comes to hand.