Akash Sama­roo

Prime Min­is­ter Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar has dis­missed pub­lic con­cerns that State se­cu­ri­ty agen­cies are mon­i­tor­ing cit­i­zens’ pri­vate phone con­ver­sa­tions, say­ing the on­ly peo­ple wor­ried about sur­veil­lance are crim­i­nals and those “suf­fer­ing from de­range­ment and para­noia.”

Re­spond­ing to ques­tions from Guardian Me­dia about grow­ing pub­lic un­ease over al­leged State in­ter­cep­tion of com­mu­ni­ca­tions, Per­sad-Bisses­sar said, “All law-abid­ing cit­i­zens are very sup­port­ive of the pro­tec­tive ser­vices’ ef­forts to com­bat crime,” she said.