By Staff Writer
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Jul 21, CMC – Former Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowey Monday said he had been detained on a stopover in Antigua and Barbuda and that his name had been placed on a watch list of the Paris-based International Police (INTERPOL).
Rowley, a trained geologist who stepped down from active politics in April this year, said that he was on his way to Montserrat to participate in activities marking the 30th anniversary of the Montserrat Volcano Observatory Scientific Opening last Monday when he was stopped at the VC Bird International Airport.
Rowley described the ordeal as a dastardly act of political persecution, accusing state entities in Trinidad and Tobago of fabricating and executing what he called a “vicious defamation campaign.
“This is not just a mistake, it is a deliberate, calculated attempt to tarnish my name on an international stage,” Rowley told a news conference, adding “it is state-sponsored slander”.
Rowley, who said he was stunned to learn that Trinidad and Tobago authorities may have caused his name to be flagged internationally, has since called on both Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar and Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro to indicate what role they played in having his name placed on the INTERPOL watch list.
“What crime or interest do I pose that justifies this?” Rowley asked. “Let the people of this country know what you are accusing me of—because I have done nothing wrong.”
“If this can be done to a former prime minister, imagine what can be done to the average citizen,” he added.
Rowley told reporters that on his arrival in Antigua, an official disappeared behind “a counter into an office, and after a significant period of going through immigration, she came back and her demeanor changed a little bit.
“But she was still very pleasant and she did not tell me anything, she went through the process …and she escorted me out of the area where I was standing”.
Rowley said he did not “think much about it because I have been through many airports, I have filled more than five passports…so I am familiar. So I got into Antigua and I am in the airport, and Antigua security came looking for me, found me, and took me into the protocol system and took me into the executive lounge”.
Rowley said, while there, he informed one of the officers about his delay at immigration, “because while not bothered, I was a little concerned and somewhere along the line I was then told …the reason why I was delayed is because I was on a watch list.
“I did not say anything then because I did not want to create any issue in Antigua. I went on to Monserrat…and I enjoyed being there for a week…and came back to Antigua on my way home.
“I am going through the system again in a similar manner. This time, a different officer and the process went very smoothly until my passport was placed in the machine. Same story.
“The officer stopped me, asked me to hold on, and the officer disappeared again. After a protracted period, the officer came back and he said to me I was on some list”.
The former prime minister said he asked the officer, “What is this about” and was told by the officer that he could not divulge any information to him, but if you want to speak to my supervisor, I can arrange for you to speak with the supervisor.
“I said yes, I would speak to your supervisor. I went to speak with the supervisor, an extremely pleasant officer, who explained to me that this development, which I am experiencing, is a result of mistaken identity. I found that a little strange,” Rowley said, adding that he asked the supervisor, “mistaken identity with whom.
“She said another person who may not have the same birthdate as you. And I asked who is interested in that person, and she said Antigua police, and that’s when I got very concerned, and I learnt this is not any ordinary situation.
“People’s location and Antigua police are not arbitrary things,” Rowley said, adding that he had made the necessary investigations through his Caribbean Community (CARICOM) net work of contacts“ and it was confirmed to me that I was on INTERPOL list and the issue that arose in Antigua are as a result of the Antigua police responding to INTERPOL and INTERPOL’s interest in me”.
The 75-year-old Rowley, who served as head of government here for nine and a half years, told reporters that the incident “immediately raises the question “of what exactly would have happened with me to cause INTERPOL to be interested in me?
He reminded reporters that INTERPOL “deals with criminal matters” and that it is not a question of mistaken identity, but confirmation that I am of interest to INTERPOL.
“I am saying here now to you that the only way my name could have gotten to INTERPOL it would have been by way of documentation of one kind or another, placed there by some authority either in Trinidad and Tobago or some other nation,” he said, noting that INTERPOL covers almost 120 countries.
“What it means is once you go on that list, that interest is available to every country in the world, every police or immigration authority in the world because you are now a peculiar person of interest for criminal matters, and usually it is criminal fugitive matters”.
Rowley told reporters he is still questioning how his name got on the INTERPOL list, saying, “It is crystal clear to me that my name could only have gone to INTERPOL from an entity or entities in Trinidad and Tobago”.
Rowley said that as a former chairman of the National Security Council, he is familiar with these matters and that he knows of a “particular officer who is the INTERPOL contact.
“So anybody in Trinidad and Tobago who INTERPOL is to be evoked, that particular officer would be involved,” he said, adding the person is a police officer and the Commissioner of Police is the head of that local bureau
“Whatever they may want to say, or how you want to view it, the one thing you could never erase from the history or future of this country is that I was the prime minister of this country and I am the former prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago.
Rowley said when he held that office as well as other portfolios in other administrations, he did so with a caveat, “I did it for the greater good of the nation…and that fact that three months after I left office …he is the subject of INTERPOL activity doesn’t say much for Trinidad and Tobago.
“I would like to know what exactly I did do in my life as a public officer and now as a private citizen to cause the authorities in Trinidad and Tobago to put me in that situation, and if they could do that to me, they could do it to others,” Rowley said.
He reminded reporters of the “shocking presentation” in the Parliament a few weeks ago of the Attorney General, John Jeremie, who should be protecting the rights of all citizens, getting up in the Parliament and pointing to Members of Parliament and saying, “ah, coming for you, for you and you.
“I watched that and was appalled,” Rowley told reporters.
Meanwhile, the main opposition People’s National Movement (PNM) said it “notes with grave concern the experience” of the former prime minister and “fully supports the call made by Dr. Rowley, and demands that the Commissioner of Police, Mrs. Kamla Persad-Bissessar Prime Minister and Head of the National Security Council, and the Attorney General John Jeremie, provide immediate and complete disclosure on this matter.
“The country must be told if Dr. Rowley’s name has been placed on an Interpol Watch List with the knowledge and/or involvement of local authorities and if so, when this has happened.”
The PNM said that Rowley served this country for over 45 years in public office, and almost 10 years in the office of Prime Minister, and is also “a well-respected regional leader who engaged in CARICOM duties until demitting office as Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago recently.
“In the circumstances, it behoves the local authorities and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to treat this matter with extreme urgency and provide clarification and transparency to the former prime minister and the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago.
“We in the PNM demand nothing less, and we await the substantive response from the Prime Minister and the Commissioner of Police.”
CMC/pr/ir/2025