Bakr's lawyer says sedition charge was part of a plot hatched by Manning

Imam Yasin Abu Bakr's lawyer told a court Monday the sedition charge against his client was part of a political conspiracy involving former prime minister Patrick Manning, former director of public prosecutions (DPP) Geoffrey Henderson and former attorney general John Jeremie.

Wayne Sturge told the jury the entire charge brought against Bakr was because the Muslimeen leader had become a political enemy of Manning. "They threw everything at him, including the kitchen sink," Sturge said.

The lawyer noted that while Bakr's involvement in the failed coup of 1990 was not relevant, that incident was used to give credence to the sedition charge. 

Sturge said none of the three - Manning, Jeremie, and Henderson - have been called in court to refute the charge that they conspired against Bakr.

Bakr is charged with:

• unlawfully inciting persons present to demand with menaces property of members of the Muslim community who are not members of the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen
• unlawfully inciting persons present to demand with menaces property of (former head of the Inter-Religious Organisation) Noble Khan, with intention to steal
• unlawfully inciting persons present to commit a breach of the peace by enforcing the collection of Zakaat against members of the Muslim community who are not members of the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen
• uttering a seditious speech, the purport of which was to engender and promote in his listeners feelings of ill-will or hostility between members of the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen and other members of the Muslim community who are not members of the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen

The case if being heard by Justice Mark Mohammed with Senior Counsel Dana Seetahal leading the state's legal team. She is expected to begin her closing statement to the jury on Thursday.