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A High Court judge has dismissed a legal challenge brought by an activist challenging the refusal of then-police commissioner Erla Harewood-Christopher to allow him to burn a replica of the police flag during a protest in October 2023 against alleged police killings.

Justice Kevin Ramcharan ruled that the commissioner lawfully barred the burning of a replica of the TTPS flag, finding that the restriction was a proportionate measure aimed at preventing a possible breach of the peace and did not unlawfully infringe constitutional rights to free expression, assembly or association.

Ramcharan upheld the decision to approve activist Umar Abdullah’s public march in Port of Spain but prohibited the burning of any item, including a replica TTPS flag. Abdullah is the leader of the First Wave Movement, a non-governmental organisation.