Canadian travel blogger Christopher Hughes, known online as “Chris Must List”, will be allowed to return to Trinidad and Tobago to face his pending sedition trial, despite being deported from the country in 2024.
Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander said yesterday he would issue a Minister’s Permit allowing Hughes to re-enter the country ahead of his trial, which is scheduled to begin on July 22.
Speaking with the Express yesterday, Alexander questioned how the situation was allowed to arise in the first place.
“Someone fell asleep on the job….Why has it reached a stage where a man who was charged in T&T but was deported must now make efforts to be allowed back in?” he stated.
The minister suggested the matter resulted from an administrative oversight.
“Now I as Homeland Security Minister will issue a Minister’s Permit allowing him to return to Trinidad and Tobago to complete his matter before the court,” he said.
Hughes was arrested during a visit to Trinidad and Tobago in 2024 after authorities accused him of publishing videos that allegedly contained seditious statements.
He was subsequently deported and designated an undesirable inhabitant under the Immigration Act, effectively barring him from re-entering the country while criminal proceedings against him remained active.
The unusual circumstances came into focus during a recent virtual court appearance, where Hughes argued that he had been placed in an impossible position.
“My trial date is on July 22nd. It is mandatory that I appear in court, but I am banned for life and not allowed to appear in court. It is two different court systems fighting against each other, both in Trinidad, and I’m the victim to this,” he explained to his audience in a video blog gone viral.
According to Hughes, prosecutors had repeatedly written to the ministry responsible for national security seeking temporary permission for him to return for his trial but had received no response.
He described the situation as a legal Catch-22.
“So the judge is sort of frustrated and the judge says to me and my lawyer in court two days ago that if I don’t make an attempt to re-enter legally I would be found convicted guilty and the Interpol will come and get me in Canada or whereever I am in the world,” he stated.
And if he does try to enter T&T, Hughes said: “One of two things would happen…Immigration would say no you’re denied to return to the country and/or imprison me with new charges for trying to enter a country that I am banned from.”
Hughes also insisted that he had every intention of attending his trial.
Alexander said Hughes would be permitted to remain in Trinidad and Tobago only for the purpose of the criminal proceedings, explaining: “Upon completion of his court matter, if he has to be imprisoned and serve time, he will be allowed to stay until its completion. If not, he will be required to leave and return to his country of origin.”
Hughes’ sedition trial is scheduled to commence before the High Court on July 22 and is expected to last three days.
