By Siewdath Persad

CHIEF JUSTICE Ivor Archie was once arrested in Libya, on suspicion of spying for America. He was eventually cleared of the allegation and, upon his release, grabbed the earliest opportunity to depart the North African country that had developed an international reputation for human rights abuses and breeding ground for anti-West terrorists.

The incident occurred in 1981, when Archie was 21. He was posted to Libya by his employer, Schlumberger, to conduct oil exploration activities.

Archie was flown back to the company’s base in France before he returned home via Britain, where he had stopped over for a few days.

His detention experience in Libya opened his eyes to the importance of an individual’s fundamental rights, and heightened his growing aspiration to pursue studies in jurisprudence.

Further encouraged by an English acquaintance, he wasted no time in applying to two universities on arrival in the UK.

Both had accepted him, but he opted for Southampton, where he completed the three-year LLB degree in just two years.

In an exclusive interview with the Sunday Guardian on the incident, Archie confirmed being detained in Libya, but denied ever spying for the US.

“Oh no! I was never any spy or anything like that. I hope you don’t over-dramatise the situation,” pleaded the recently-appointed CJ, with a light chuckle.

“I was suspected of being an American spy. It was a mistake that was eventually sorted out. But I was not thrown in jail or ill-treated. I was simply detained for a few hours overnight while the matter was verified.”

Secret army

Explaining what really happened, Archie, said:

“At the time of the incident, Libya was at war with neighbouring Chad. I got lost while driving in the desert in search of a rig, and I had no radio with which to communicate with Schlumberger.

“When night fell, I saw a distant flicker of light and started driving in the direction of the source.”

To his great surprise, Archie said he “stumbled straight into a secret army installation, which only few were supposed to know about,” and all of a sudden he found his jeep surrounded by men in army camouflage with big guns pointed at him.

Archie said he was apprehensive and his heart started racing. The thought of dying so young had flashed briefly through his mind.

“Although scared, I did not panic and calmly stepped out of the jeep with my hands held above my head.

“I tried to explain that I was lost and held out my desert pass. The military men were suspicious, because I was speaking English, which they did not understand, and they were asking questions in Arabic, which I did not understand.

“So you could imagine the initial confusion, especially since I had entered what was supposed to be one of their secret military camps at night, and during a time of war to boot.”

To his relief, added Archie, “a senior official who understood English was dispatched to the camp to sort out the situation. He asked a few questions and examined my desert pass.

“He noted that it was genuine and immediately issued instructions to release me.”

Shipped to Libya

Archie, who had graduated with a first class honours degree in civil engineering from the University of the West Indies in 1980, was recruited by Schlumberger that same year, after a brief stint at Trintoplan.

Trintoplan, by minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Dr Lenny Saith, had offered Archie a scholarship to attend UWI, following his GCE A-Level success at St Mary’s College at age 17.

Schlumberger had sent Archie for training in France for a few months before he was shipped to Libya.

Archie’s 78-year-old mother, Moulda, said she used to “worry a lot and prayed night and day” for the safety of her son while he was in Libya.

“Every Sunday after lunch I used to sit and write a letter to him. He used to write back at least once a month, but I cherished every one of those letters,” added the CJ’s mom, a retired educator, who taught at Bishop’s High School in Tobago, where Archie did his O-Levels at age 15, placing seventh overall in the country.

“At first, Ivor was excited to go to work in Libya, but after he had complained about the extremely hot days and very cold nights, and it was culturally different to what he was accustomed to in Trinidad and Tobago,” his mother said.

Archie’s father, William, a retired port worker, said he never worried about either of his two sons, the elder of whom went on to qualify as a pharmacist.

“They take after their father, so I knew they could handle themselves, so why worry?” he teased, lowering his voice to whisper: “Don’t let their mother hear that, eh. Her two sons are her eyeballs.”

But the senior Archie said he agreed “100 per cent” with his wife when she begged Ivor to leave Libya, which was at that time a hot spot for international news, most of which revolved around war and terrorism.

“It was not such a nice place at the time, and anyone could easily have gotten killed for nothing.”

Ivor Archie’s fact file

n Born in Rockleyvale, Tobago

n Married to chartered accountant Denise Rodriguez-Archie.

n Couple have two children, 18-year-old Chinyere, a medical student, and Sean, 14.

n Attended Bishop’s High School in Tobago, and placed seventh overall in O-Levels in 1975.

n Was also junior chess champion in Tobago and won two youth national music awards in piano and vocalist solo.

n Completed A-Levels at St Mary’s College and won Trintoplan scholarship in 1977.

n Obtained a BSc degree in mechanical engineering from University of the West Indies, St Augustine, in 1980. Was also badminton champ at campus.

n Worked briefly as an engineer with Trintoplan Consultants (Trinidad) and Schlumberger (Libya).

n Entered University of Southampton to study law, completing the Bachelor of Laws Accelerated Programme in 1984.

n Obtained the Legal Education Certificate at the Hugh Wooding Law School, achieving the award for the most outstanding performance during the two-year programme.

n Worked at the Central Bank and then in Solicitor General’s Department.

n Served overseas for nine years (1991-’98) in various positions including Senior Crown Counsel (at Turks and Caicos), Crown Counsel (at Cayman Islands where he occasionally acted as Attorney General).

n Acquired a black belt in karate while in Cayman Islands.

n Fellow in the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute

n Chairs the local board of TT Judicial Education Institute.

n Returned to T&T in 1998 and was appointed as a Justice of Appeal in 2004.

n Appointed Chief Justice on January 21.