Bakr gets final notice to appear before coup probe; must respond by April 29

The Commission of Enquiry into the failed 1990 Muslimeen Coup has given former coup leader Imam Yasin Abu Bakr until April 29 to confirm if he will appear before the commission.

It's the fourth letter inviting Bakr to give evidence into the 1990 uprising. The Commission's lead counsel Avory Sinanan told commission chairman Sir David Simmons Monday that he sent the letter to Bakr and his lawyers.

“We are awaiting his response, and the response time expires on April 29,” Sinanan said at the start of the tenth session of the enquiry.

“On that day, or shortly thereafter, the commission will wish to revisit the issue,” if Bakr or his lawyers don't respond Sinanan advised. 

Bakr has so far avoided giving testimony claiming that he has been too ill to appear before the commission. Sinanan said Bakr’s attorney, Navin Maharaj, also told the commission last year that Bakr could not testify because that could negatively affect his sedition court matter that is still before the courts.

Sinanan noted that Bakr could face a fine of $2,000 for failing to testify if he is unable to provide an acceptable reason for not attending.

Bakr's son has insisted that his father is willing to give evidence but is not well enough to do so. "The Imam is in no way hesitant to give evidence, if the commission could change the time to facilitate his recovery,” Fuad Abu Bakr insisted.

Several other witnesses are due to appear before the commission before it wraps up hearings by August. The Guardian newspaper named  some of them and the outlined the subjects they are expected to discuss:

• Verna St Rose, involved in social welfare in 1990. She will talk about the “Red Phone,” a system which provided a direct link between the Government’s social welfare department and the Jamaat at the time, in which people in need of assistance were directed to the group
• Muhammad Shabazz, former police officer in 1970, Unemployment Relief Programme Manager (URP), PNM Senator in 1990. He will talk about how security officers are tied to criminal elements and about how the Jamaat became involved in the URP
• Bernard Pantin, former programme manager of Trinidad and Tobago Television, which was seized by the Muslimeen rebels, will tell of his involvement in the entire episode
• Kenneth Subran, retired commissioner of evaluations. He will trace his involvement in the Jamaat land issue and give the bureaucratic history of how it came to be occupied and how various governments dealt with the matter. Piarco. He said although it was put forward that the airport was closed during the crisis, little was done to curtail unauthorised landings