In a significant legal development unfolding in a virtual habeas corpus hearing on Wednesday, High Court Justice Frank Seepersad has approved a request from legal representatives for detained businessman Dominic Hadeed and his wife Genevieve to inspect official police station diaries. The ruling comes amid serious allegations that a standard criminal probe into the couple was abruptly reclassified after the habeas corpus challenge was filed, shifting it to fall under the country’s Emergency Powers Regulations.
The Hadeeds were taken into police custody last week as part of a wide-ranging investigation into an alleged conspiracy to target and assassinate sitting government officials. Their legal team, led by a cohort of senior counsels including Douglas Mendes, Gilbert Peterson, Faris Al-Rawi, Carlon McLeod and Chase Pegus, has argued from the outset that the initial arrests followed standard criminal procedure. According to Mendes’ submission to the court, the pair were arrested using the routine police powers that allow officers to detain, question and formally charge suspects, with no public or official indication at the time of arrest that the operation was being carried out under emergency legislation or a formal Preventive Detention Order (PDO).
The critical shift in the case, Mendes told Justice Seepersad, came only after the defense team lodged the habeas corpus application at the High Court this past Saturday. Immediately following the filing of the challenge to the detention’s lawfulness, the couple was suddenly reclassified as being held under a PDO. This sequence of events, Mendes argued, raises profound red flags about potential misuse of standard investigative authority and suggests the procedural shift was not conducted in good faith. He emphasized that the defense’s core argument remains that the couple’s detention was unlawful at the time the application was filed.
Attorneys representing the Commissioner of Police countered that the detention orders were actually drafted and approved prior to the formal issuance of the PDO, a claim the defense says only reinforces their concerns over procedural irregularity. Justice Seepersad clarified that the matter before the court was not a constitutional challenge, but rather a straightforward habeas corpus application. Still, he acknowledged that the judiciary retains inherent supervisory jurisdiction to confirm that proper legal processes are being followed in all detention matters. While he questioned whether the PDO impacts the court’s authority to hear the habeas corpus challenge, and stressed that he does not want to unnecessarily waste judicial time, he ruled that the diary inspection could be completed quickly, and granted the defense’s request.
Following the ruling, Al-Rawi told the court the defense team would complete the diary review, obtain updated instructions from the Hadeeds, and file all responding affidavits by Thursday morning. Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro was present for the virtual hearing and represented by his legal team Ramdath Phillip and Anya Ramute-Mohan.
The hearing unfolded against a broader backdrop of multiple detentions connected to the same police counter-conspiracy operation. Genevieve Hadeed’s aunt, Star Sabga, was also arrested last week in connection with the case and remains in custody, though Justice Seepersad noted that the current habeas application does not address her detention. The matter was first heard on Saturday morning, when it was adjourned to Wednesday to give state legal teams time to file responding affidavits on the lawfulness of the detention. The case is scheduled to reconvene for further arguments at 10 a.m. Thursday.