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The United States Of America Wants 25 More Bahamians Extradited To Face Drug Charges
Related to country: Bahamas

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US Wants 25 More Extradited -
By Kendea Jones:
Nassau, Bahamas -




The United States is currently seeking the extradition of 25 more people from The Bahamas, according to Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Nassau Dr. Brent Hardt, who was the special guest on the Sunday programme "Jones and Company" on JCN TV and Radio Love 97.

Dr. Hardt said the embassy is appreciative of the relationship it shares with The Bahamas’ judicial system.

"We have seen the good works of all the people who work in the [judicial] system here and who work in the attorney general’s office who prosecute the area - and the police department as well, and we are just grateful for the great work and the open partnership," he said.

"I have worked in many countries around the world and I have yet to see the same level or degree of trust that we enjoy here in The Bahamas.

"I think that is to the benefit of both of our countries because obviously we both want to have societies rooted in the rule of law where drug traffickers and international criminals can’t conduct their business and when you are talking about addressing crimes across the borders the only way to do that is if we address it together."

Dr. Hardt said although 25 people seem like a large amount, there are some people the United States has decided not to pursue.

"The decision is being made between the prosecuting authorities in both jurisdictions," he explained. "It is often on the basis of where do they have the stronger case and elements that play into that are both aspects of the crime committed itself and the nature of the evidence at hand and maybe how each country allows certain evidence to be admissible."

Dr. Hardt said in some cases it is found that the United States could enforce a tougher penalty on the criminal than The Bahamas can.

"So you have to look at sentencing. I mean there could be cases in the US where the crime’s sentence is 10 years…here because of the law on the books it is only about six months to a year. So if you are putting a lot of resources, time and money into an investigation you want to make sure that you put somebody behind bars for a good amount of time," he said.

The show’s host, Wendall Jones, asked Dr. Hardt why it takes a considerable amount of time for an extradition to happen.

Dr. Hardt said an extradition could take a short amount of time, but defendants prolong the process.

"An individual who is tried can easily wave the extradition and say ‘ok I’ll go face trial in the United States’…," he said.

"But they fight the extradition, precisely because they know that we have the evidence on them and that we are going to mount a very strong case and we probably wouldn’t request extradition unless we have a very strong case, and if they are found guilty they would face very severe penalties.

"The length of the case really has more to do with the defendant who will try to find some appeal to try to drag it out and that is a judicial process and they are entitled to do that. We have to be patient and we certainly would like to see people extradited more quickly, but this is their legal right and then of course they have another trial in the United States."

Bahamian Samuel "Ninety" Knowles was extradited to the United States in August 2006. He was recently convicted on drug charges and is awaiting sentencing.

In late April, alleged drug traffickers Keva and Dwight Major were extradited to the United States to face drug charges.

May 5, 2008

May 6, 2008 | 5:57 PM Comments  0 comments

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