PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC):
JAMAAT AL Muslimeen leader, Imam Yasin Abu Bakr, was denied bail yesterday morning when he appeared before a Port-of-Spain court facing four charges, including sedition.
Hours before he appeared before Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicholls, police officers in Trinidad and Tobago carried out a raid at the Jamaat Mosque in St. James and seized a number of items.
An Associated Press report confirmed that one gun had been found up to press time.
COPS DETAIN SIX
The police exercise also netted six people who have been detained for questioning in connection with the seizure.
The charges against Abu Bakr, causing his court appearance yesterday, were laid following a controversial statement he made to his followers during last Friday's Eid Ul Fitr celebrations.
During his address to members of the Jamaat, Abu Bakr chastised wealthy Muslims for not paying zakaat or Islamic charity.
WARNED OF WAR
He warned that there would be a war next year and blood could flow if the situation did not change.
The four charges were laid by lead investigator Inspector Christopher Holder after consultations with acting Director of Public Prosecutions Carla Brown Antoine.
The 64 year-old Imam Bakr, who was behind the 1990 failed coup attempt in Trinidad, was charged late yesterday night, two days after he was taken from one of his homes in Diego Martin.
UNLAWFULLY INCITED PERSONS
The charges claim that on Friday, November 4, Bakr unlawfully incited persons at his mosque to commit a breach of peace to collect zakaat, inciting persons at the mosque to demand property by force, uttering seditious speech to engender hostility and inciting his members to demand money by force.
Since his statement many people have condemned the leader and have called on the authorities to take action against him.
The matter was adjourned till November 17.
