The Con­gress of the Peo­ple (COP) has called for due process to be ob­served fol­low­ing the ar­rest and charg­ing of Hous­ing Min­is­ter David Lee and busi­ness­man Hugh Leong Poi.

In a brief state­ment, COP chair­man Lons­dale Williams said the par­ty ac­knowl­edges the charges but main­tains that all per­sons are in­no­cent un­less proven guilty and that the law must take its course.

The call came a day af­ter Peo­ple’s Na­tion­al Move­ment (PNM) Po­lit­i­cal Leader Pene­lope Beck­les urged Prime Min­is­ter Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar to say whether Lee will re­main in Cab­i­net while fac­ing crim­i­nal charges.