Senior Reporter
Attorneys representing alleged murder conspirator Star Sabga have written to the Commissioner of Police (CoP) Allister Guevarro requesting that three of her family members be allowed to visit her in keeping with what was done during her time in police custody, especially in light of health concerns now being raised by her.
According to the letter, dated August 14 and addressed to T&T Police Service attorney Dayadai Harripaul and copied to CoP Guevarro and Gerald Ramdeen, one of the State’s attorneys in the substantive matter, attorney Carlon Mc Leod asked that the relatives be allowed to visit her twice weekly.
“Pursuant to the same paragraph 3 of the Order, which contemplates approved family attendants, and which is the same access as was granted while our client was detained at the Women’s Prison, we propose that the following family members attend upon our client at 2 pm on Tuesdays and on Thursdays, for no more than 15 minutes, one at a time: Sharon Sabga, Martin Sabga and Annie Laquis.”
While Guardian Media received information that Sabga, 70, was allowed to be seen by her doctor, Dr Jacqueline Pereira-Sabga, prior to the August 14 letter, Mc Leod again requested permission for her to be checked in his letter.
In his letter to the Commissioner last Friday, Mc Leod wrote: “We reiterate our request, first made by our letter on July 30 and repeated on July 31, August 6 and August 10, for permission for our client to be medically examined by her physician, Dr Jacqueline Pereira-Sabga, at such time as may be arranged with your officers between the hours of 9 am and 4 pm.”
Mc Leod’s first request for her to see a doctor came after he visited her on July 29. During that visit, Sabga told him she was in “severe discomfort.”
“Our client is 70 years of age. Since the commencement of her detention, she has lost approximately 29 pounds in weight. She suffers from constant chest pains. She has not been sleeping. She has not been medically assessed at any time since her release into supervision at the residence. Chest pain in a woman of that age, presenting together with significant unintended weight loss, is not a matter upon which any of us should be content to wait,” he wrote.
In the latest letter, Mc Leod again sought permission for the 11 attorneys representing Sabga, as well as Commissioner of Affidavit Renaldo Dopwell, to be allowed access to her.
Apart from Mc Leod, the legal team includes Douglas Mendes, SC, Gilbert Peterson, SC, Rishi Dass, SC, Faris Al-Rawi, SC, Chase Pegus, Jerome Rajcoomar, Ryan Rajcoomar, Dharmendra Punwasee, Christopher Hadeed and Mona Al-Rawi. The letter claimed that Mona Al-Rawi was denied access after she showed up without Dopwell visiting Sabga.
When Guardian Media visited Regent Towers in Westmoorings yesterday, where Sabga remains under house arrest, a police vehicle with two officers in uniform and a third person in the back seat, who was not in uniform, entered the compound.
It was observed that the occupants of the marked police vehicle removed suitcases just around 1 pm. When the officers left, there were two additional police officers in the vehicle.
Guardian Media tried getting information from the officers as they left. However, the female driver just smiled and waved.
Sabga is allowed meals delivered to her three times daily, 7 am, 12 pm and 5 pm, which was approved by CoP Guevarro.
Sabga, along with Dominic Hadeed and his wife, Genevieve, were placed under a Preventive Detention Orders (PDO) for allegedly plotting to murder Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.
The Hadeeds later had their PDOs revoked by Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander, while High Court Judge Justice Vigel Paul ordered Sabga’s release from the Women’s Prison in Arouca to house arrest on July 27.
