A High Court judge has ordered the Commissioner of Police to clarify whether businessman Dominic Hadeed and his wife, Genevieve Hadeed, are being detained under a Preventive Detention Order (PDO), after an urgent habeas corpus application challenged the legality of their continued detention.
Justice Frank Seepersad on Saturday made the order after considering an ex parte application filed by Senior Counsel Faris Al-Rawi on behalf of the couple.
Rather than immediately granting the writ of habeas corpus, the judge directed that the application, supporting affidavit and certificate of urgency be served on the Commissioner of Police by 4 p.m. today (Saturday) and fixed the matter for a virtual hearing at 9 a.m. on Monday.
VIRTUAL HEARING:
Justice Frank Seepersad
In his order, Justice Seepersad specifically requested clarification from the Commissioner “as to whether the detention of the Applicants is pursuant to a Preventive Detention Order.”
The Express reported today that Minister of Homeland Security Roger Alexander was expected to sign three PDOs authorising the continued detention of Dominic Hadeed, Genevieve Hadeed and their relative, 69-year-old businesswoman Star Sabga, under the Emergency Powers Regulations enacted during the State of Emergency.
The affidavit filed by Al-Rawi sets out a detailed account of the couple’s arrest and detention, alleging they have been held without charge since approximately 6 a.m. on Wednesday, June 24.
According to the affidavit, heavily armed police officers executed search warrants at the Hadeeds’ Bayshore, Westmoorings home shortly after dawn. Al-Rawi said his clients told him they were awakened by officers calling Dominic Hadeed’s name before entering their bedroom. Police allegedly searched the entire residence, seizing electronic devices belonging to the couple and their children before informing them they were under arrest.
The affidavit states the couple were then transported separately to several locations, including the Special Branch offices at Agra Court in St James and the Blue Waters offices at Orange Grove, where police searched Dominic Hadeed’s office and seized additional electronic devices.
Police later took Dominic Hadeed to Gulf City Mall, where firearms and ammunition lawfully held under firearms licences were collected, the affidavit said.
Al-Rawi said he and fellow attorneys Gilbert Peterson, SC, and Carlon McLeod met with the Hadeeds at Agra Court on the day of their arrest and were told investigations were continuing. He said police assured the legal team they would be notified of any developments or interviews.
Instead, the couple were transferred that evening to separate police stations, Dominic Hadeed to Carenage Police Station and Genevieve Hadeed to Woodbrook Police Station.
The affidavit alleges that Genevieve Hadeed was detained in a small, poorly ventilated cell with no running water, bedding or furniture, containing only a hole in the floor serving as a toilet. Al-Rawi described observing cockroaches in the cell and said another detainee was curled up on the floor when he visited.
The affidavit evidence read “On the night of Wednesday June 24th 2026 at approximately 7:40pm the Second Applicant was driven to the Woodbrook Police Station by PC Toney and WPC Ramsey in an SUV, and I attended at the said station, where I was shown the cell in which the Second Applicant would be held. I observed that the cell was approximately 8 feet by 6 feet in dimension with a dirty terrazzo floor, with no bedding or furniture and with a hole in the floor used as a toilet. There was no running water in the cell and it reeked of the smell of faeces and urine. There was no ventilation in the cell and it was poorly lit by dim fluorescent lights shielded by wire mesh. There were cockroaches clearly crawling around the floor of the cell. There was another female occupant in the cell crouched on the floor in a fetal position.”
Dominic Hadeed, according to the affidavit, suffers from sleep apnea requiring nightly use of a CPAP machine and has an orthopaedic leg injury requiring a brace. The affidavit claims he was made to sleep on a bare concrete slab without access to electricity to operate the medical device, leaving him unable to sleep.
The affidavit evidence presented by Al Rawi in support of the legal action read “I am informed by the First Applicant and verily believe that he suffers from sleep apnea, requiring the nightly use of a CPAP machine, and has an orthopaedic injury to his leg for which he wears a brace.
The First Applicant informed me and I verily believe that was made to sleep upon a bare concrete slab, without any means of using his CPAP machine, and was unable to sleep. “
A central issue raised in the application concerns the legal basis for the detention.
Al-Rawi said that when he met Assistant Superintendent WPC Rawlins on Thursday night, he was told the detention was not under a Preventive Detention Order or the Emergency Powers Regulations.
However, minutes later, Genevieve Hadeed produced a document headed The Emergency Powers Regulations, 2026 – Further Detention Period Pursuant to Regulation 13(3) extending her detention. Dominic Hadeed was subsequently served with a similar document at Carenage Police Station.
The affidavit contends that both applicants were originally arrested while police executed ordinary search warrants in connection with an alleged conspiracy to murder investigation, not under the Emergency Powers Regulations.
“The Applicants were not arrested or detained under Regulation 13(1) of the Emergency Powers Regulations… They were arrested in the execution of ordinary search warrants in respect of the offence of conspiracy to murder,” the affidavit states.
The application also alleges repeated delays in interviewing the Hadeeds despite assurances from investigators that interviews would proceed. Al-Rawi said police informed him at various stages that officers were awaiting legal advice from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and later a report from the Cyber Crime Unit before interviews could commence.
The affidavit further details the arrest of Star Sabga on Thursday evening. Al-Rawi said he was informed by police that Sabga had been detained and was later able to interview her at Agra Court before she was returned to the St Joseph Police Station.
FULL DETAILS IN THE SUNDAY EXPRESS NEWSPAPER
