2 former detainees seeking $7M compensation from state

Two men are threatening to sue the state for nearly $7 million for wrongful arrest. Both of them - Kevin Stuart, 33, and Adesa Hickson, 24 - were detained during the State of Emergency and later freed.

Lawyer Kevin Ratiram filed separate pre-action protocol letters Monday to the Solicitor General seeking total payment of $6,850,000 to the men as compensation for their wrongful arrest.

Attorney General Anand Ramlogan told local media he cannot comment on the matter in his official capacity because it would be inappropriate.

A total of 182 men detained by police under the emergency powers have so far been freed because the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has offered no evidence to prosecute them.

Stuartwas arrested at his Marabella home on August 27 and placed in a cell at the Marabella Police Station where he was later interviewsd by police about alleged gang connections.  

Ratiram is claiming that the police had no evidence that Stuart was involved in gang activities. However, when he appeared before a magistrate he was denied bail and sent to the Golden Grove Prison in Arouca.

Police arrested Hickson on August 24 and took him to the San Fernando Police Station where officers interrogated him about gang-related activities.  but he denied involvement. Two days later police charged him. However he was freed when the State said it had no evidence to support the criminal gang charges against him, Stuart and several others. They were all freed.

Senior Counsel Israel Khan told the Newsday newspaper, “I can only describe their notification to sue for malicious prosecutions, as ridiculous, subterfuge and preposterous. 

"We have to remember that after the DPP dropped the charges, the men were freed. There was no malicious intent, because the men were held on the basis that the police had reasonable justification to do so. And they were held under the state of emergency powers given to the police.”