FORMER People’s National Movement (PNM) member Nafeesa Mohammed says her family needs no protection from Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi.
The attorney issued a release in response to comments made by Al-Rawi that Mohammed was “adamant on one thing, protecting my family.”
Mohammed who has come under criticism from the PNM since her resignation from the party on Tuesday, said she will not be used as a scapegoat.
She said: “I am disappointed but not surprised that Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi has once again distorted and twisted the facts. His attempt to raise provocative issues such as child marriage and terrorism is amusing. It is a disingenuous attempt to divert attention from the real issues that prompted my resignation from the PNM- arrogant and incompetent leadership that simply does not have the poor and downtrodden at heart.”
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Mohammed, who is known for her attempts in assisting nationals of Trinidad and Tobago who left the country to go to Syria, added that promises made by Al-Rawi to the Muslim community were shallow.
“He has ignored our concerns about many of the laws that this government has passed that have had an oppressive and discriminatory impact on the Muslim community. He has done precious little to alleviate our concerns about laws that target and blacklist us. Instead, we have been tarnished and painted in a negative light and he has turned a blind eye to our pain and suffering.”
Speaking at an opening ceremony for newer and larger offices of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) now located at Park Street, Port-of-Spain, earlier this week, Al-Rawi stated: “The law does not operate to protect Nafeesa’s family alone. The law has to operate in a balance and when we get to the issue of the returnees, I heard her making a lot of criticism about me as AG and Faris didn’t do this and Faris didn’t do that.”
“No! Faris can’t step in and protect your family, Nafeesa. Faris has to protect the people of Trinidad and Tobago. We don’t act capriciously and we can’t act in the face of evidence,” the AG said.
Mohammed resigned from the PNM claiming the party and its leader Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley have been unfair to members of the Muslim community who were in dire need of justice.
On Sunday, she publicly stated her support for the United National Congress (UNC) Barataria/San Juan candidate Saddam Hosein.