Pellau Magazine: Telecom boss on Alleyne broadcast: It’s a matter for the police

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Talk show host Ian Alleyne, left, talking to
reporters and above being apprehended. Photos:
Kristian de Silva
Chairman of the Telecommunications Authority of
T&T, Selby Wilson, yesterday declined to say
whether TV6's licence to broadcast could be
revoked as a result of the company allowing the
transmission of a videotape showing a minor
being raped.
Interviewed by the Guardian yesterday, Wilson
said the authority wrote to TV6 and the office of
the Director of Public Prosecutions about the
broadcast. "I imagine the penalities are spelt out
in the Sexual Offences Act. "The police are likely
to prosecute and we wrote the station and the
DPP, indicating the Act was breached and that
part is in the hands of the police."
Wilson said the authority had no power to
prosecute. "We have no authority to prosecute
but it was a likely offence," he said. "We can say
that is what we believe and we wrote the station
about the programme and it is left up to the DPP
if it is something they can prosecute."
When asked if TV6's licence could be revoked or
discontinued, he said: "I don't want to speculate
on that. "Mr Alleyne's arrest had nothing to do
with the licence. "We dealt with it as a possible
offence and the police did their work." The law
states:
Sexual Offences Act Chapter 11.28: 32. (1) Before
or after a persons is accused of an offencer under
this Act, no matter likely to lead members of the
public to identify a person as the complainant in
relation to that accusation shall either be
published in Trinidad and Tobago in a written
publication available to the public or be broadcast
in Trinidad and Tobago except where, on the
application of the complainant, the court directs
that the effect of the restriction is to impose a
substantial and unreasonable restriction on the
reporting of proceedings and that it is in the
public interest to remove the restriction in
respect of the applicant.
(2) A person who publishes or broadcasts any
matter contrary to subsection (1) is guilty of an
offence and liable on summary conviction to a
fine of $25,000 and to imprisonment for five
years.
(3) Subsection (2) refers to-
(a) in the case of a publication in a newspaper or
periodical, any proprietor, any editor and public
publisher of the newspapers or periodical;
(b) in the case of any other publication, the
person who publishes it; and
(c) in the case of a broadcast, a body corporate,
which transmits or provides the programme in
which the broadcast is made and any person
having functions in relation to the programme
corresponding to those of an editor of a
newspaper.
(4) In subsection (1) "complainant" includes in
relation to a person accused of an offence under
this Act, the person against whom the offence is
alleged to have been committed.
TV 6 Crime Watch host Ian Alleyne's attorney Om
Lalla said yesterday that he would be taking legal
action against the Police Service for the arrest of
his client. Alleyne is expected to be charged
under the Sexual Offences Act and with resisting
arrest. He was taken into police custody last
Thursday after a broadcast of the TV6 current
affairs programme that he hosts on October 25
and 26 last year.
The dramatic prime-time arrest of Alleyne—which
was broadcast live by TV6, owned by publicly
listed One Caribbean Media—stemmed from a
broadcast that showed the rape of a 13-year-old
mentally-disabled girl. Alleyne could be charged
under Section 32 (2) of the Sexual Offences Act.
On Thursday night, Alleyne was taken to Port-of-
Spain General Hospital for medical assistance
after he complained that he was feeling unwell.
He was then transferred to the Eric Williams
Medical Sciences Complex where he remained up
to late yesterday. In an interview, Lalla said: "I am
going to sue them.
"It is illegal to arrest somebody and not tell them
what they are under arrest for," he said. "Some
officers are committed to the work and now they
do something like this? "They have not said if
there were charges. "I have made a written
request to the commissioner (Dwayne Gibbs) and
gave a formal request in CID (Port-of-Spain) that
was written in the station diary.
"They are publicly informing the media and we
are not aware of what is going on." Lalla said he
had been ignored by officers when he requested
information on what ground they were holding
Alleyne. "Nobody can't answer me or have the
courtesy or letting the prisoner or attorney
know," he said.
"They have not served the prisoner or attorney.
"We were told via the media and I have not been
informed nor has he. "His employers were given a
summons but you take out a warrant for him.
"That is a demonstration of abuse," Lalla added.
He said the police wanted to embarrass his client.
"This is the biggest mock up of the police...They
decided they want to embarrass him and
pappyshow him," he said. "The publisher is
responsible. What is he under arrest for? There
are two police officers guarding him. If you want
to interview him, why arrest him? They already
had charges prepared."
When asked if TV6 should be responsible for the
broadcast and not his client, Lalla said: "That is a
legal issue for the court to decide." Meanwhile, he
said Alleyne's condition was "as good as can be."
Senior officers, however, said the charges against
Alleyne were already laid in the Port-of-Spain
Magistrates' Court.
"There are arrest warrants but he is hospitalised
and we can't execute it," an officer said.
"Information was laid by the court when the
warrants were taken out. "He is under guard
because he is under our jurisdiction. "As soon as
he is released from the hospital, the warrants will
be executed."