PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) — Businessman Dominic Hadeed and his wife, Genevieve Hadeed, will remain in custody after the High Court rejected their challenge to preventative detention orders issued under Trinidad and Tobago’s state of emergency regulations. The couple had sought release while contesting the legality of their detention in connection with an investigation into an alleged plot to assassinate senior government officials.

Justice Frank Seepersad ruled that the applicants had not demonstrated sufficient irregularities in the detention process to justify their release. The court also dismissed arguments that Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander was required to consult the Hadeeds before approving the detention orders. The judge found that the legal threshold for intervention had not been met and that the orders remained valid under the emergency powers framework.