Ninety May Sue Minister:

By Macushla N. Pinder -
Nassau, Bahamas:

Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell could be facing a legal battle as attorneys for accused drug kingpin Samuel "Ninety" Knowles threaten to take action after their client was extradited on Monday, despite a pending hearing in the Supreme Court.

Minister Mitchell signed the warrant of surrender, which cleared the way for Knowles’ extradition.

Roger Minnis, one of Knowles’ attorneys, who was there at the time Knowles was whisked away by a team of officers from the Drug Enforcement Unit, confirmed plans to sue the minister in his official capacity.

"What he did is really in contempt of court," Mr. Minnis claimed. "The question is whether or not the client would agree [to sue the minister]. So, we have to seek his instructions first…I really don’t know if he would agree to this."

In a letter addressed to Mr. Mitchell, dated August 29, Mr. Minnis and his colleague, Edward Fitzgerald, said they were "dismayed and shocked" by the minister’s conduct.

"This scenario amounts to the pre-emption of the judicial process by the executive. Moreover, this action was quite contrary to a specific undertaking given in open court before Justice Small that Mr. Knowles would not be extradited whilst legal proceedings were pending," the letter stated.

"We are proposing to take committal proceedings for contempt of court as a result of your actions. We are also further minded to take Mr. Knowles’ case to the Inter-American Organization for Human Rights."

According to Mr. Minnis, his client was taken away from Her Majesty’s Prison around 4pm Monday, shortly after Minister Mitchell signed the warrant of surrender for Mr. Knowles to face extradition charges in the United States.

"He never voluntarily surrendered into the U.S.’ custody. I got a letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs around midday Monday and immediately drafted an affidavit and attached the letter I wrote to the minister. I also prepared the application for leave to do a judicial review and obtain an order prohibiting them from sending him," Mr. Minnis explained.

"I got to the prison about 2:30pm, was able to see him and he signed the affidavit. By that time, he had not gotten anything from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs just yet. I went to explain the situation to the (prison) superintendent. On my way out, I met him in the (prison) courtyard and several senior officers were already preparing to turn him over to the DEU. Fifteen minutes later, he was gone. They took him out without incident."

Knowles, whose wife was visiting him at the time, reportedly appeared startled by the entire situation. He was not allowed to speak to his attorney.

"He appeared as if he had not really absorbed that this was happening to him," Mr. Minnis said. "He left in a pair of slippers, basketball pants and a t-shirt."

At last report, Knowles was being held at the Federal Detention Centre in downtown Miami, Florida.

The London-based Privy Council recently dismissed Knowles’ appeal, clearing the way for extradition.

The high court actually made two separate rulings because Knowles’ attorneys had filed two separate appeals since he is fighting two extradition requests.

The first was made on March 26, 2001, months after a federal grand jury in the United States indicted Knowles and others on counts of conspiracy to possess cocaine and marijuana with the intent to distribute and conspiracy to import the same drugs in the United States between November 11, 1997 and December 8, 2000.

The second request was made on February 6, 2002. It charged Knowles and others with counts of conspiracy to smuggle cocaine into the United States between June 1995 and 1997.

There is however an outstanding application before the Supreme Court seeking his release, as pointed out by the Privy Council in its ruling.

Knowles’ application in Supreme Court was based on U.S. President George Bush’s reference to the accused as a drug kingpin.

His attorneys have maintained that such a label would prevent their client from receiving a fair trial.

The application was to have been heard in the Supreme Court by Justice Small on May 12 and 13, 2005. But that has not yet taken place.

Knowles’ attorneys recently appeared before Justice Lyons and secured a hearing date for the habeas corpus application to be heard on September 28 and 29, 2006.

It is a development that left many, including attorney Damien Gomez, wondering why the government pushed ahead with signing the warrant given that the Supreme Court matter is still outstanding.

"I am completely flabbergasted by what has happened," Mr. Gomez said when he called yesterday into the Love 97 programme, "Issues of the Day".

"This is inexplicable that the government would essentially render worthless the outstanding habeas corpus proceedings before the Supreme Court. There is no point in proceeding because there is no way that the order of the court – if it were granted – could be enforced," added Mr. Gomez, who is also a government senator.

Neither Minister Mitchell nor Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson could be reached for comment on the matter, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs made the formal announcement in a brief statement yesterday.

On "Issues of the Day", callers had mixed views on whether Knowles would be able to get a fair trial in the United States.

"Mr. Knowles should not have been sent to the United States," said one caller. "He will not have a fair trial."

But there were some who agreed with the government’s decision.

"If he has to be extradited to go ahead and face these crimes, let him go," said another caller.

"He would get a better trial in the States…That’s where all the drugs are going. It’s killing their people."

Mr. Knowles is expected to appear before a court as early as Thursday morning for a first time hearing.

30 August 2006

bahamian law