PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) — A High Court judge has dismissed lawsuits filed by the leader of the Jamaat-al-Muslimeen, Yasin Abu Bakr, against the State with the judge describing the motions as an “abuse of process”.

Bakr had been freed of a murder charge in 2010 because of lack of evidence.

High Court Judge Frank Seepersad Monday dismissed Bakr’s constitutional motion and malicious prosecution claims as an “abuse of process”, ruling also that the former coup leader failed to adduce evidence to show that his constitutional rights were infringed by Coroner Nalini Singh when she charged him and his Brent “Big Brent” Miller with murder of 22-year-old mechanic Israel Sammy in September 2010.

Sammy was shot dead behind his home on May 20, 1998.

Seepersad also said Bakr provided no evidence to support his claim that Singh used a flawed process in coming to her decision, which was eventually overturned one month later when Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Roger Gaspard said that there was insufficient evidence to sustain the charge.

“The litigant cannot conduct a case in an ad hoc manner hoping something would stick,” the judge said, adding that Bakr would have possibly been more successful if he had filed for a judicial review of Singh’s decision.

Justice Seepersad also ordered Bakr to pay the State’s legal costs for defending his claim.