Less than 24 hours after Star Sabga was released from house arrest under a Preventive Detention Order (PDO) imposed during the ongoing State of Emergency (SoE), Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander said the investigation into an alleged plot to assassinate Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and other Government officials remains active.
Speaking to reporters outside Parliament in Port-of-Spain yesterday, Alexander cited the decades-long investigation into the murder of US rapper Tupac Shakur as an example of how criminal probes can take years before reaching a conclusion.
Sabga, her niece Genevieve Hadeed, and Hadeed’s husband, Dominic Hadeed, were arrested on June 24 as part of the investigation into the alleged assassination plot.
Three days later, PDOs were issued against the trio under the Emergency Powers Regulations, 2026.
The Hadeeds were released on July 23, while Sabga remained under house arrest until Thursday, when she was also released.
However, Alexander said her release does not signal the end of the investigation.
“Let me draw reference to what you’re talking about there. You remember Tupac Shakur? Tupac Shakur was shot in 1996 and the person was only charged this year. That’s how investigations go. It’s not over till it’s over,” he said.
Duane Keith “Keffe D” Davis was charged in 2023 in connection with Shakur’s 1996 murder. In August this year, a Las Vegas jury found Davis guilty of first-degree murder, nearly 30 years after the rapper was killed.
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles questioned why people detained under PDOs were being released without charges.
Without naming Sabga or the Hadeeds, Beckles said the issue formed part of broader concerns about the Government’s use of emergency powers.
“Let’s go back to the original conspiracy to murder government members, the judiciary, several persons. Notwithstanding that, we have seen them all out in public, whether it be at cricket and other events. During the first SoE, we gave the Government the benefit of the doubt. But now you have had thousands of PDOs. I made the point a couple of days ago that when it expires, hundreds of people are going to be released,” Beckles said.
“The question arises: why aren’t these people being charged? It cannot be that you’re using your extraordinary powers under the State of Emergency to simply arrest people, keep them in custody and then release them.”
However, in Parliament last evening, Alexander revealed that 245 people had been charged as a result of SoE-related operations.
The SoE is scheduled to expire on September 17.
San Fernando East MP Brian Manning also criticised the release of Sabga and the Hadeeds without charges, saying it highlighted wider concerns about the use of emergency powers.
“That’s a prime example of having an SoE. Under an SoE, your constitutional rights have been suspended, so the Government feels free to do those kinds of things to citizens of this country. This should not be allowed and it cannot be allowed,” he said.
Manning also opposed any extension of the SoE, arguing that the Government could not continue restricting citizens’ rights while relying on what he described as a measure of last resort.
He further accused the United National Congress of posing a threat to the country’s population.
