Eight jurors selected so far for Bakr trial

Seven more jurors are expected to be selected by next Friday to sit in the sedition trial of Jamaat-al-Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr. After yesterday’s jury-selection process in the Port-of-Spain High Court two additional jurors were chosen to sit on the nine-member panel with six alternates, bringing the total number of jurors selected so far to eight. Bakr, also known as Lennox Phillip, 72, is before Justice Mark Mohammed in the Third Court charged with communicating a statement having seditious intention, two counts of inciting to demand with menaces with intent to steal and endeavouring to provoke a breach of the peace. The charges arose out of an Eid-ul-Fitr sermon Bakr delivered at the organisation’s Mucurapo Road, St James, masjid on November 4, 2005. At the beginning of the trial in January, several thousand potential jurors were summoned to take part in the jury-selection process.

 

After undergoing questioning by Mohammed, the numbers of potential jurors fell dramatically, with most being excused after they offered evidence of health problems or a direct relationship to Bakr and his relatives. The potential jurors also were questioned by Bakr’s attorneys and state prosecutors. Bakr appeared in court yesterday and again kept his injured leg elevated on a chair in the prisoners’ enclosure. He underwent an operation on his leg earlier this year which led to his missing previous court dates, on his doctors’ recommendations. He is being represented by British Queen’s Counsel Martin Hicks and attorneys Wayne Sturge, Naveen Maraj and Viveka Pargass. Special prosecutor Dana Seetahal, SC, and attorneys Renuka Rambhajan and Shelly-Ann Gajadhar are appearing for the state. The matter continues today.