THE controversial affidavit filed by Jamaat-al-Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr, in which he claimed that he was given certain leeway by Prime Minister Patrick Manning, was sent to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) yesterday.

Speaking with the media outside the Police Administration Building in Port of Spain yesterday, Acting Commissioner of Police James Philbert said the police had investigated the claims in the file, and it was to be sent to the DPP’s office for advice.

When contacted yesterday, Acting DPP Roger Gaspard, who was not in the office at the time, said he could not confirm the file was sent, adding it may have been but he had not seen it.

Philbert said there were some ’hindrances’ in investigating the claims, adding the police had ’done their part’.

In his affidavit, Abu Bakr claimed that Manning promised to waive a debt he owed the State, in exchange for support in the 2002 general election.

On September 12, High Court Judge Rajendra Narine, now a Court of Appeal judge, ruled that ten properties belonging to Abu Bakr be auctioned off by the State to satisfy, in part, a $40 million debt arising out of the destruction of the Police Headquarters during the 1990 attempted coup.

In his judgment, Narine referred the affidavit, which was struck out by both the Court of Appeal and the Privy Council, to the then acting DPP, Carla Brown-Antoine, and Philbert for further investigations.

This sparked a legal battle between Attorney General John Jeremie, who stated in Parliament on September 14 that Narine’s decision to refer the affidavit to the DPP and the CoP was improper, and the Law Association, headed by Martin Daly, SC.