Hadeed couple appeals detention in Trinidad assassination plot case

Dominic Hadeed and his wife Genevieve filed an appeal on July 7 against their detention over allegations that they were part of a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and other senior officials. Dominic Hadeed, the owner of Blue Waters bottled water supplier, and Genevieve Hadeed deny the accusations and say the case is politically motivated retaliation against an ethnic minority they believe is aligned with the opposition.

Police searched the Hadeeds’ residence in Shorelands, West Trinidad, and Dominic Hadeed’s business premises in Trincity before detaining the pair under emergency powers. Officers seized laptops, cellphones and other electronic devices during the operation, and Hadeed was later taken to Gulf City Mall, where he operates a business, to recover firearms and ammunition tied to his permits.

The state’s detention orders, later published in the Extraordinary Gazette, described the matter as an ongoing conspiracy to assassinate senior government officials. A 69-year-old Westmoorings businesswoman, Star Sabga, was detained in the same probe.

The legal fight has already reached the High Court of Trinidad and Tobago. One judge ordered police to clarify whether Dominic Hadeed and Genevieve Hadeed were being held under a Preventive Detention Order, then later ruled that the evidence was sufficient to trigger police powers under Regulation 13 of the Emergency Powers Regulations. The court also found that the initial 48-hour detention and a seven-day extension complied with the law, giving prosecutors a legal basis to keep the case moving while the appeal is heard.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar declined to comment publicly on the probe, while Attorney General John Jeremie had recently warned that no segment of society, including the so-called “one per cent,” was beyond the reach of the law. The next hearing is set for July 27.