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alexk
Guest
Trinidadians are known for their odd sense of humour and sometimes “unacceptable” Trini talk but they can get in “big trouble for their mouth” under the Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill 2018 as an offence of Glorification of Terror is being proposed.
This proposal was made yesterday by director of the Financial Intelligence Unit of T&T (FIUTT), Susan Francois, during the Joint Select Committee of the Parliament on the Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill 2018 held yesterday in the Parliament.
Francois said while her proposal “may be a bit contentious” it is geared towards people who praise or celebrate acts of terrorism whether directly or indirectly “in such a way that it may encourage others to commit a terrorist act or when there is an intent to incite the commission of terrorists, as well as, the risk of the person speaking, that it will fall on fertile ground.”
Francois’ drew reference to an article carried in the Dabiq magazine featuring T&T’s Shane Crawford, a designated terrorist in T&T, and referred to words he used which could have the effect of encouraging the commission of terrorist acts in T&T.
“That is the kind of situation I am talking about and I think we need to deal strongly with terrorism and protect citizens as much as we can. We need to take strong measures…If we don’t recognise the seriousness of the situation then the solutions we adopt would not be strong enough,” Francois said.
Committee member, St Augustine MP Prakash Ramadhar objected to word “glorious” saying there may be issues to definite the offence.
But Francois responded saying that the usage of different words may tend to “weaken the intention.”
Committee chairman Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi said an interpretation of the offence may be an issue as well since Trinidadians have a “dynamic and peculiar form of humour and public commentary.”
He admitted that he is intrigued by the proposal but cautious.
“We say unacceptable things that are intended to mean otherwise. We are Trinis and there must be a careful approach,” he said.
Committee member Fitzgerald Hinds referred to the New York case involving Trinidadian, Abdul Kareem, who he said his Trini style in talking got him in trouble after he was charged for attempting to disrupt a gas line at the JFK airport.
In his defence, Hinds added, Kareem said he was being “Trini” in terms of his manner of speech.
“An investigator engaged him in conversation and in typical Trini way, he spoke Trini talk but we have to be extremely careful because it landed him in serious trouble,” Hinds said.
Francois, in another submission, proposed the extension of detention of people suspected of carrying out a terrorist act or threat to be to move from a minimum of 48 hours to minimum 14 days and to a maximum of 90 days.
Francois said the extension of detention will “allow investigators to access required information from other jurisdictions, if need be, where time zones can be a factor and also to establish identity of suspects or gather information on associates, to which sometimes they may have forged IDs or stolen IDs or no IDs. All these are reasons that need to give law enforcement more time to gather evidence.”