Rajaee Ali’s dad defends his name‘No Muslim in his right mind wants to destabilise society’

Sascha Wilson

Senior Reporter

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The father of alleged gang leader Rajaee Ali has publicly rejected police claims that his son was involved in a plot to kill judicial officers, while one of Ali’s attorneys, Keron Ramkhalwhan, has denied that Ali made any threats against him.

At a media conference hosted by the First Wave Movement in San Fernando yesterday, Hassan Ali defended his son against what he described as the criminalisation and character assassination “of people with no voice because of allegations against them, because they are in remand.”

Ali Sr noted that Muslims have contributed to the stability of society over the years.

“No must-believing Muslim in his right mind would want to assassinate judges and people that supposed to be doing their jobs. No Muslim in your right mind wants to destabilise the society,” Ali Sr said.

While he did not go into details, Ali Sr said his son would have previously assisted police “on the ground”, not as an informant, but to “help resolve some of the challenges”. He also criticised harsh comments about his son on social media.

“It is unbearable. That is not Rajaee Ali,” he said.

During the conference, First Wave Movement leader Umar Abdullah called on police to provide evidence of the claims made against Ali and other men detained “illegally” at the Defence Force headquarters in Chaguaramas.

He also demanded an immediate end to the State of Emergency (SoE), saying there was no justification for it.

Abdullah further called for the closure of all military detention sites and for all detainees to be returned to “legal civilian institutions”. He also demanded an independent commission of enquiry into the actions of the police service, the Director of Public Prosecutions, and the Ministry of National Security, as well as the reinstatement of constitutional protections and respect for the rights of all citizens, including the presumption of innocence.

“This is not just about Rajaee Ali. This is about the soul of our democracy. If they can do this to him with no evidence, no trial, no defence, they can do it to any one of us,” Abdullah said.

He dismissed the allegations against Ali and the others as a “theoretical production” designed to frighten the public and distract from rampant crime.

Shortly after the media conference, Ramkhalwhan accused police of fabricating a purported death threat against him. In a media release, he stated that police officers attached to the Special Intelligence Unit (SIU) informed him they had received “intelligence” of a credible threat to his life from Rajaee Ali.

“Based on this interaction, it was suggested that I reconsider my professional engagement in this matter and take security measures for my protection. I enquired further about what security measures could be implemented, but to date, I have received no response,” he said.

Denying that Ali had threatened him, Ramkhalwhan said information disseminated publicly by a senior police official and the Commissioner of Police—that Ali had threatened his attorneys from a military base—was false and misleading.

“At no point have I, nor my instructing attorney Anwar Hosein, been threatened by anyone,” he said.

He explained that they were retained solely to challenge a transfer decision made pursuant to Section 7 of the Prisons Act and to pursue constitutional proceedings.

Raising concerns about police overreach, Ramkhalwhan said: “If the police are willing to adopt and propagate this false narrative of threats against Rajaee Ali as a means to impede effective legal representation, I must ask: how far will they go to silence lawyers and hinder access to justice in this country?”

He said the situation raises serious questions about respect for legal rights and the independence of legal practitioners in T&T.

Ali was among the high-profile prisoners who were transferred to Teteron Barracks and Staubles Bay from the Maximum State Prison following the declaration of a State of Emergency. The SoE was declared based on intelligence that organised criminal gangs, operating from within and outside the prison system, were coordinating assassinations, kidnappings, and robberies targeting high-level officials and public institutions.

Ali and ten men are currently awaiting trial for the murder of Dana Seetahal, SC, in 2014.