Trinidad frees businessman and wife held over alleged plot against prime minister

July 23 - Trinidad and Tobago businessman Dominic Hadeed and his wife Genevieve Hadeed were released from prison on Thursday after being held for nearly a month without charges over allegations they were involved in a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and other senior government officials.

The case drew national attention, raising concerns among opposition figures and civil rights advocates about the use of powers adopted under a state of emergency declared in March to combat organized crime.

Hadeed, owner of bottled-water company Blue Waters, and his wife have denied the allegations, saying in court documents that their detention was politically motivated.

The couple were freed after Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander said he accepted a tribunal's recommendation that it was not in the public interest to continue detaining them.

Hadeed, one of Trinidad and Tobago's best-known businessmen, was accused of conspiring to assassinate the prime minister, attorney general and other members of the government.

The Hadeeds, who were arrested at their home in June under emergency powers, argued that their detention amounted to retaliation against members of an ethnic minority perceived to support the opposition. Hadeed is a member of the Caribbean nation's Syrian-Lebanese community.

Their release came after a legal battle that reached the British Privy Council, Trinidad and Tobago's highest appellate court.

The Court of Appeal ruled last week that the couple should be released, but the government sought to challenge the decision before the London-based court, and got the Trinidad Appeal court to agree that they should remain in prison until the issue is resolved by the Privy Council.

The Privy Council declined on Thursday to hear the government's appeal on an urgent basis, a move that could have left the couple in prison until after the court's summer recess or until the state of emergency came to an end.

Trinidad and Tobago imposed a six-month state of emergency in March as part of an effort to tackle organized crime. Hadeed has said his public criticism of the measure contributed to his detention.

Hadeed's legal team did not immediately reply to a request for comment. REUTERS