In a sweeping 36-page legal affidavit submitted to Trinidad and Tobago’s High Court on July 3, 42-year-old Genevieve Hadeed has issued an unflinching denial of allegations that she conspired to assassinate Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, describing the claims as a devastating, unfathomable shock that has upended her entire family’s life.
The affidavit marks Hadeed’s first public personal account of the June 24 police raid on her family’s Westmoorings residence and the subsequent detention she faced under the country’s active state of emergency regulations. The legal filing is part of a constitutional motion brought by Hadeed and her husband, prominent local businessman Dominic Hadeed, who is also in detention.
Hadeed recounts that she first learned of the grave allegations against her when a police corporal served her a formal Preventive Detention Order (PDO). The document cited intelligence claiming she had publicly called for the deaths of the Prime Minister, sitting government ministers, and members of parliament, remarks allegedly made during parliamentary debates over an extension of the national state of emergency.
Reading the accusation for the first time, Hadeed writes, left her completely shattered. “Upon receiving the document, my heart sank. I envisaged my life was over. I became so weak and overwhelmed that I nearly collapsed to the floor. In that moment, it felt as though my entire world had come crushing down,” her affidavit reads. She says she was reeling from shock, fear, and disbelief, particularly at being lumped in the same category as Yasin Abu Bakr, the former leader of a failed 1990 coup attempt in Trinidad and Tobago. “I could not comprehend what I was reading… It was as if they were putting me in the same league as Abu Bakr, as if I were staging a coup,” she added.
Hadeed categorically rejects all claims against her, emphasizing that she has never plotted violence, engaged in criminal activity, or taken any step that threatens public safety. “I have never plotted to murder anyone, nor have I plotted to engage in any criminal activity, nor have I ever acted in any way which could be considered to be prejudicial to public safety by taking steps to carry out the type of allegations that are being levelled against me,” she stated.
She further describes the chaotic confusion of the early morning police raid on her home, where officers presented a search warrant tied to a conspiracy to murder investigation but provided no details of what she was alleged to have done, who she was supposed to have conspired with, or any other context. Hadeed, who has no prior criminal convictions or charges, called the entire situation deeply distressing and unfathomable.
The affidavit details harsh conditions during her detention at Trinidad’s Woodbrook Police Station: an 8-by-6 foot cell with a soiled floor, no furniture or bedding, an open floor-hole toilet, no running water, poor ventilation, dim lighting, and rampant cockroaches. She says she spent multiple sleepless nights in the cell, only being taken back to her home under armed police supervision during the day to shower, change clothes, and eat.
Hadeed also says she was stunned to learn that her 69-year-old maternal aunt, Star Sabga — a small businesswoman who makes a living selling homemade cheese — was also detained in connection with the case. She later learned from her legal team of a front-page *Express* newspaper report stating a PDO would be served against her, a revelation that left her even more confused, as no law enforcement official had notified her of the pending action. Hadeed noted that she had always understood PDOs were reserved for the most heinous and dangerous criminals, making her inclusion all the more bewildering.
A notable error recounted in the affidavit saw police transport Hadeed to another local residence on the day of her arrest to question a couple about a different Genevieve Hadeed — her sister-in-law who permanently resides in Spain. Even after the couple confirmed the other Genevieve Hadeed lived abroad, Hadeed remained in police custody.
Beyond her own ordeal, Hadeed centers much of her testimony on the harm done to her family. As the primary caregiver for her three children and her husband, who lives with multiple severe chronic health conditions including cancer, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, chronic lymphocytic lymphoma, and kidney disease, Hadeed argues that her detention and that of her husband has put his life at grave risk, as he has been cut off from regular medication, physiotherapy, and ongoing treatment. She also notes the profound emotional harm to her three children, who have suddenly been deprived of her daily care and guidance.
A lifelong community and charity worker, Hadeed has previously served as president of the Syrian Lebanese Women’s Association and been deeply involved in local philanthropic work, a track record she says is inconsistent with the accusations against her. She closes the affidavit by reaffirming her complete innocence, arguing that she is being punished before any criminal trial has taken place, and urging the High Court to grant her immediate release so she can return to her family.