By Prior Beharry
A DAY before he left for a mini vacation in Barbados, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley says he knew nothing about the “abduction” of firearms dealer Brent Thomas from Barbados.
Speaking at the post-cabinet press conference on Thursday he said, “I want to do what I normally do with the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago which is tell you the truth, and that is that I, like everybody else in the country who was not involved in this matter with the police, I became aware of the existence of this matter as a result of your reporting in the media.”
Saying that that statement cannot be rebutted, he said that the Cabinet of T&T was not in the habit of directing the police to pursue any person or agency.
Dr Rowley said, “And we, the citizens of this country, can go to bed comfortably knowing that police work was only directed by police officers in the police service under the Police Act.”
He said he has not spoken to anyone in Barbados on the matter because he did not need to.
Dr Rowley said he was leaving on Friday to spend a long weekend of vacation in Barbados, He said this vacation was planned long before the matter of Brent Thomas arose.
He said, “I intend to enjoy the weekend on some of the best gold course in the world. That might upset some people, but I have no apologies to make.”
Dr Rowley also question the use of the word “abduction” in the matter of Thomas although Justice Devindra Rampersad used it repeatedly in his judgement.
He said while he has not read the judgement, he saw snippets of it and said the word “abduction” implies criminal conduct for a benefit.”
Dr Rowley said police officers were being accused of abducting but upon investigation there maybe difficulty to prove that they acted with criminal intent.
