Christopher “Chris Must List” Hughes was arrested for a third time and the high court, yesterday, granted a mandatory interim order permitting his attorneys to gain access to him at the Immigration Detention Centre, Eastern Main Road, Aripo.
Hughes was arrested around 5.30 pm on Saturday at the Diego Martin residence where he stays when in the country.
One of his attorneys, Gerald Ramdeen, told Guardian Media that officers of the Immigration Division of the Ministry of National Security arrested and detained Hughes for deportation.
Ramdeen said a pre-action letter was sent to the Ministry of National Security, as well as the Attorney General’s Office yesterday morning, giving notice of a challenge to the detention of Hughes.
Up to late yesterday evening, the attorney said the legal team had not received a reply to that pre-action letter.
“The legal team then went to the Immigration Detention Centre and were (sic) refused access. In those circumstances, an emergency application was made to the High Court under Section 14 of the Constitution. The attorneys then filed an injunction after they were refused to meet with their client,” Ramdeen explained.
He said at 5.12 pm, High Court Judge Kevin Ramcharan granted the order, without hearing, permitting the legal team of Hughes to have unlimited access to him to take instructions to commence further proceedings.
“I can give notice to the Ministry of National Security and the Office of the Attorney General that by this morning, an action will be filed under the provisions of the Judicial Review Act to challenge the detention of our client and to quash the deportation order that was purportedly made. In addition to that claim, I would like to put the executive on notice that a pre-action letter will be dispatched this morning seeking the return of all of the items that were seized from Hughes last week,” Ramdeen detailed.
In addition to that, the attorney said, a legal challenge will be mounted alleging false imprisonment over Hughes’ detention.
“What has transpired in this scenario and the action of the executive is very unfortunate, and it gives a real good example to the country of the level of unlawfulness that this government is prepared to perpetrate, not only against the citizens of this country but the citizens of another country, a foreign country,” Ramdeen charged.
Last week Huges was detained in connection with allegations of money laundering.
Police said his Apple laptop, iPhone, portable hard drive, GoPro camera, and other devices were seized by investigators as part of an ongoing investigation into money laundering.
The 45-year-old is currently charged with making a seditious publication and has pleaded not guilty to the offence, which goes to trial in January. He was first arrested in July.
Meanwhile, Guardian Media received a letter from someone purporting to be a family member, of Hughes.
The letter was addressed to the Chief Immigration Officer.
“He was already making efforts to book his ticket to leave as soon as his passport was returned to him. You are very much aware that the immigration act affords the facility of voluntary departure. Why is this procedure frustrated,” the letter stated.
The letter went on to state that in T&T the Immigration Act (Chapter 18:01) governs the entry and stay of non-citizens.
However, it said the act doesn’t explicitly classify individuals entering the country for court-mandated travel or bail conditions.
“This is judicial business. When granting bail, the judicial system reasonably expects that Chris’ entry into Trinidad is for legal purposes, not tourism or immigration. His presence is specifically to meet his legal obligations by appearing in court. While the Immigration Act lacks a clear classification for this type of entry, Chris’ right to be in the country is rooted in his fundamental right to a fair trial,” the letter added.