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Shinzo Abe waves as he leaves the prime minister’s office on September 16, 2020, in Tokyo. (AP photo)

FOREIGN and Caricom Affairs Minister Dr Amery Browne expressed shock and sadness at the assassination of former Japan prime minister Shinzo Abe.

Abe, 67, was shot dead by a man with a homemade gun while campaigning in Japan’s parliamentary elections in the city of Nara on Friday.

Browne said, the Prime Minister has personally written to Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to express the Government’s formal condolences to him and to the people of Japan.

“I have discussed the matter with fellow foreign ministers of the Caribbean community (Caricom), I join with my peers in remembering the service of Japan’s longest serving prime minister, who had a particular interest and connection with the developing world including our region.”

Browne expressed condolences to Abe’s family and “to all those who were positively affected by his many years of service.”

Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young, who visited Japan in 2016 during Abe’s tenure as prime minister, said his thoughts and prayers are with Abe’s family, friends and his countrymen.

“As a citizen of TT and an elected member of parliament, I would like to extend my personal condolences and dismay at this horrific and tragic event leading to the loss of life of former prime minister Shinzo Abe.”

In a statement, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar said, “The UNC strongly condemns all forms of political violence and stresses that violence is never the answer.”

Abe was the first Japanese prime minister to visit TT. He was here for a Caricom-Japan summit between July 27-28, 2014 when Persad-Bissessar was prime minister.

She expressed her condolences to Abe’s family and country.

Former finance and foreign affairs minister Winston Dookeran remembered meeting Abe in 2014.

“TT was honoured by his visit in 2014, and I remember our meeting. It was a historic visit. He was gracious, astute, and humble.”

Dookeran remembered Abe offering “to set up an antenna for investment with Invest TT in Tokyo, as he commissioned the methanol plant in TT.”

He described Abe’s assassination as a shocking blow to world peace, and a horrible event in one of the world’s most peaceful democracies.

“We were fortunate that he visited TT and cemented a bond between our countries.”

Dookeran recalled Abe was “a clear architect of modern Japan with his economic policies (Abenomics) and active foreign policy.” He said Abe’s death will create a void in Japan.

Former foreign affairs minister Ralph Maraj described Abe’s murder as shocking and tragic.

He said, “Abe made significant steps towards Japan’s economic renewal and also its place in the world.” Maraj observed Abe courageously moved Japan away from is previous pacifist constitution to play a more active role in the Asia-Pacific region.

“He has made an enduring contribution as Japan’s longest serving prime minister.”

Political analyst Dr Shane Mohammed said, Japan has strict laws regarding illegal firearms. It was startling for a peaceful and democratic nation like Japan to experience this kind of tragedy. He said Abe made significant contributions to Japan’s development and the rest of the world.

In a statement, Caricom said Abe’s visit to the region in 2014 took political engagement between Japan and Caricom to a new level.

Abe’s new policy towards Caricom included co-operation towards sustainable development including overcoming vulnerabilities particular to small island states and deepening and expanding bonds founded on exchanges and friendship and co-operation in addressing challenges in the international community.

In expressing its condolences to the Japanese government and people, Caricom praised Abe as a man “who made great efforts to reshape his country and its place in the world.”

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A policeman tries to put out a fire on Nelson Street, Port of Spain during protests by residents over the killing of three men by police at Independence Square, Port of Spain on Saturday. Photo by Ayanna Kinsale

ATTORNEY Om Lalla, who is representing the 15-year-old shot by police last Saturday, is requesting of the Office of Commissioner of Police that all evidence be preserved “with the highest security.”

In his four-page letter to acting Police Commissioner Mc Donald Jacob, and copied to director of the Police Complaints Authority David West, Lalla requested that all CCTV footage from the police, national security cameras and surrounding businesses be preserved. He also requested the same for body camera footage; ballistic reports, which include the amount of ammunition used and the officers who fired their weapons; the autopsy report from the Forensic Science Centre; evidence that the police vehicle was shot at; the station diary report, and the medical report of the victims.

Lalla said his client denied that he or anyone of the six people in the car had a gun on them or that a gun was even found in the car after the shooting.

Isaiah Roberts, 17, along with Fabien Richards, 21, and Leonardo Williams, 17, were killed after police officers said they were shot at after the car the three were in crashed into Republic Bank, Independence Square. Police said in a media release that a Smith and Wesson pistol was found in the car and seized.

Lalla’s client was one of three who survived. He was shot in the right arm and grazed on the abdomen and leg. He was hospitalised for four days before he was discharged. He and the two other survivors gave statements to police and were released without charges, pending further investigations.

The autopsy reports of the three killed said they were shot from behind.

Lalla said his client was in the car heading towards Port of Spain when a police vehicle confronted them. The teen said an officer asked the driver to stop but he failed to do so because he became frightened. The teen said he heard gunshots but the driver continued driving.

The letter said when they reached Port of Spain, the driver turned south along Chacon Street and was slammed into by another police vehicle heading west along Independence Square, causing the car to crash into Republic Bank.

“Upon crashing, the occupants of the vehicle who remained in the vehicle alive and unharmed, which included my client, heard the sounds of further gunshots and were hit by bullets. Three of the occupants of the vehicle died as a result.”

Lalla said his client is a witness, is now fearful for his life and is in urgent need of counselling. He lamented that since the incident no state official reached out to his client to facilitate this.

The teen cried at the funeral for his friend Roberts, who was buried on Friday. Richards will be buried on Monday and Williams on Tuesday.

“The shooting incident, according to the facts, represents a wholly unwarranted and blatant example of excessive force by the police which has resulted in serious injuries to my client and, regrettably, the death of other young men.”

Lalla said the matter should be investigated swiftly given the severity of the incident, adding that the anxiety by the country should not shirk the police’s responsibility.

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Justice Lisa Ramsumair-Hinds.

A man initially on over a dozen indictments for the murder and rape of a 19-year-old girl, the assault of her cousin, and the robbery and false imprisonment of a Curepe taxi driver in 2008 will be sentenced on July

Keston “Chucky” Allen, 35, was allowed to plead guilty to ten counts of felony murder, false imprisonment, robbery with aggravation, grievous sexual assault, larceny of a car, and rape which he did on Friday.

He returns to court on July 29 when it is likely he will be sentenced by Justice Lisa Ramsumair-Hinds who has ordered bio-social and probation officers’ reports to assist in his plea of mitigation which will be submitted in writing and to guide her in the sentencing process.

It is the State’s case that Allen and three others accosted the taxi driver in St Augustine on October 19, 2008, and ordered him to drive. The incident began at 12.30 am when the taxi driver was leaving a party when he offered a woman a drop. It turned out the woman was Allen’s accomplice since he and another man entered the car and she said they were with her.

The taxi driver was ordered to drive and 15 minutes later, they saw the two cousins and he was ordered to stop. The cousins were robbed of their cellphones and money and then were bundled into the stolen taxi and taken to an abandoned house in the Mt Lambert area. The girls begged to be let go.

At that house, the teenager was raped and told “she was a waste of time” after the act. Her cousin, who was 22 at the time, had her period but was sexually assaulted. Allen and his accomplices also forced one of the girls to perform oral sex on the taxi driver who later managed to escape and find his way to the St Joseph police station.

Allen and the others went in search of the taxi driver but were unable to drive his car because it was a manual. When they got to the Mt Dor, Champ Fleurs, area, they shot the women. When police found the car, the teenager was dead while her cousin received gunshot wounds about the body but survived the ordeal.

Allen was later arrested and identified by the older woman and the taxi driver.

Allen entered plea discussions with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and on June 22, it was agreed he would plead guilty to the ten counts while he will be discharged of the others.

On Friday, prosecutor Danielle Thompson said the State agreed to a starting-point sentence of 22 years for kidnapping and 25 for the rape count. She also gave the State’s position on the other counts. The count of felony murder will be at the discretion of the judge.

Also at the hearing, Thompson read from the victim impact statements of the teenager’s mother, the other victim who was sexually assaulted and shot, an aunt, and the taxi driver.

The cousin spoke of the ordeal and said her younger cousin “did not deserve to die like that.” The mother of the 19-year-old said her daughter’s death was traumatic. The girl was her only daughter. She was so torn by her death she did not want reminders of her at home and gave away her things in an effort to cope with her loss.

She said her daughter’s intention was to go to university and was, at the time, doing hairdressing to save for her further studies.

“I real miss her.” She said she still breaks down in tears at Christmas time. “I know nothing I can do can bring her back but I just want justice for her as all I have of her is her memory.”

The taxi driver said he too was traumatised and did not work for a year because he was afraid the men who abducted him would find him.

“I could have lost my life.”

The girls’ aunt, who also provided an victim impact statement, said it seemed that God had answered the family’s prayers when Allen was arrested.

Representing Allen was public defender Michelle Gonzales.

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Mourners outside Simpson’s Funeral Home, Eastern Main Road, Laventille during the funeral for Isaiah Roberts who was killed by police on Independence Square, Port of Spain last. Saturday. Photo by Sureash Cholai

THE mother of Isaiah Roberts, one of three killed by police last Saturday, remembered him as a “kind soul” during his funeral on Friday.

Roberts’ mother Akilah John, who is not in the country, penned to her son a letter which she had read by Kaffie Pierre at Simpson’s Funeral Chapel, Eastern Main Road Laventille.

In the letter she said, “My heart feels shattered. My pain is unbearable knowing I won’t see your beautiful, handsome face again. I miss you so much already, words can’t explain. Your smile, your laugh, your smell, even when you smelling bad. I’m sad for the people who won’t get to know your kind soul, your creativity, your mischief and, most of all, that amazing sense of humour.”

She wrote that Roberts will always be a part of her as her “unique, precious sensitive boy” and is saddened that not many will know how sweet a child Roberts, her only child, was.

“I was lucky to have you as my son. You are my little world no matter how old you were getting. I can’t say it enough how proud I was of you, my little black gold. The greatest job I ever had was the job of raising you.”

During his homily, Pastor Wayne Baptiste, reading from Psalm 90, told the congregation time is fragile. He prayed that God would teach the family and others to number their days and recognise how few they are and how to spend them.

Roberts’ aunt Samantha John gave the eulogy and recalled Roberts to be the life of the family. She said her nephew was studying auto mechanics at Servol. Some of his classmates attended the funeral along with one of his teachers.

“He was an amazing driver who could drive better than his mother. He was an amazing, caring, loving young man who was the life of the household, who made us laugh,” John said.

She added that her nephew was the type to wash, cook and clean and would put his mother to bed at 7 pm by taking off her bedroom light and telling her he loved her before going to lime next door with one of his friends.

One of those friends, a 15-year-old boy, was one of three survivors of the police-involved killing, who was shot in the arm and grazed on the abdomen during the alleged shootout with police. He and two others were released from police custody pending further investigations.

Roberts, 17, along with Fabien Richards, 21 and Leonardo Williams, 17, were killed after they, police said, opened fire on police officers after crashing into Republic Bank, Independence Square.

Their autopsies said all three were shot from behind. Police said they recovered a Smith and Wesson pistol at the scene.

Outside the funeral home, survivors and other mourners wept for the teen – the first of the three to be buried. Richards will be buried on Monday and Williams on Tuesday.

While members of the Inter-Agency Task Force provided transport and escort for the relatives from the funeral chapel to the burial at the San Juan public cemetery, some mourners were overheard questioning why they were there. The officers were in their urban camouflage wear, which is similar to that worn by the Guard and Emergency Branch (GEB).

Four GEB officers involved in the incident are on desk duty as the investigation continues.

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Jean-Louis Francisque, président du syndicat mixte de gestion de l’Eau et de l’assainissement de la Guadeloupe a annulé l’arrêté de mutation de Franck Brachet.

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