Trinidadians charged with illegal entry must complete quarantine

Three Trinidadians charged with entering St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) illegally will have to wait until their 14-day quarantine period is over before they can answer to the charges.

The three were not physically present on Wednesday, April 22 at the Kingstown Magistrate’s Court, when the matter came up, but were instead represented by their attorney Grant Connell.

Senior Magistrate Rickie Burnett told Connell that he had before him a letter by one Dr Duncan that confirmed the three named Trinidadians to be under a two-week quarantine, that began on Sunday, April 19.

However, the trio’s attorney noted that his clients could have gone back to Trinidad on the boat that they came on.
He also informed that when he went to the Biabou police station, where the Trinidadians were apparently sent after the coast guard found them, he was the only one wearing a mask.

Further, Connell also questioned whether the police, customs and immigration broke his clients’ quarantine, reasoning that they couldn’t be in quarantine and at a police station.

However, no submissions were forthcoming on either side of the courtroom on how to proceed legally with the unprecedented situation.

Therefore the magistrate indicated that he suspected “the matters are before me this morning really for a plea to be entered.”

“…the parties are not physically before me, they are quarantined from the 19th. So what I’m going to do, I’m going to adjourn the matter,” for report, he decided. Consequently the Trinidadians are expected before the court on May 4.

Reliable information indicates that the three will be required to plea to charges that they, at Canouan, on April 19, entered the state by boat without a passport, and at a place other than a port of entry.

To date, Trinidad and Tobago has 115 confirmed positive cases of the novel Coronavirus.