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Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi last night said support Director of Office of Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) at US Department of State Bureau of Counterterrorism Irfan Saeed’s call to allow Trinis seeking to return home from ISIS zones was not simple.
“I am in support of upholding the laws of T&T. The laws of T&T are that we will treat with terrorism in the harshest way possible,” Al-Rawi said in a telephone interview.
To treat with terrorism, he said one must have intelligence and mechanisms.
“It is only in those circumstances that you can apply the law,” he added.
Al-Rawi said in treating with people who have been allegedly accused of terrorism, there must be careful investigation and one must be mindful to explore all the avenues for assistance, including the sharing and reciprocation of intelligence and information from international partners.
“At the end of the day, however, all citizens of T&T enjoy the rights and privileges of their citizenship. And once they are not within the realm of terrorism and subjected to the law of another country, in respect of that, which may have been proved in court in other jurisdictions, once that is not the case, then clearly they can be repatriated home, providing that is their desire.”
But the AG admitted children fell under a special category and are to be afforded all rights, privileges and the protection they ought to have.
“The state is very mindful of that,” he said.
He said there were sentences imposed on T&T nationals in foreign countries for acts of terrorism. He drew reference to the May’s sentencing of Trinidadian Anisa Waheed Mohammed and her two granddaughters, who were jailed for 20 years by Iraq’s court for alleged association with ISIS. There was also the case of Kareem Ibrahim, who was sentenced in America for the JFK bombing plot and terrorism allegations.
“What is extremely interesting is that despite advocacy by non-family members, there has been no advocacy to the Government by family members in respect of the recent matters in Iraq. That obviously is something deserving of concern. I say no more on that. My position is if people are subjected to penalties in respect of acts of terrorism pursuant to judicial processes in other jurisdictions, then people serve their sentences according to those countries laws.”