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Trinidad government controlling police: Basdeo Panday

The ex-Indian-origin PM accuses the Govt of controlling law enforcement agents.

Updated on: Mar 29, 2007, 15:28:12 IST
IANS | By , Port-of-Spain
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Police have conducted so many searches at the residence of Trinidad and Tobago's former Indian-origin prime minister Basdeo Panday that he says he does not know where to hide his underwear.

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HT Image

Panday has accused the government of controlling law enforcement agents in the country, according to the Trinidad Express newspaper.

"They have tarnished my name. They have tarnished my character. They put me through hell. They put my family through hell. They abused me.

They humiliated me. They made me go sit down in the docks of a magistrate's court on a hard concrete bench as if I were a common criminal," an angry Panday said Monday.

Panday, the leader of the country's United National Congress (UNC), attended the country's parliamentary proceedings last week after an appeals court overturned his conviction for failing to disclose a foreign bank account to the authorities.

He was sentenced to two years in jail, fined $60,000, and ordered to pay $1.6 million last year by a court after he was found guilty of failing to declare his Natwest Bank account in London to the Integrity Commission for the years 1997, 1998, and 1999.

"They (government) try to control the police service, they only have to click their fingers so and those dogs start barking," he said.

Panday joked that he was not an ugly person and he could not understand why he was being prevented from returning to parliament.

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