Now that the Court of Appeal has ruled that the extradition treaty The Bahamas has with the U.S. is indeed legal, the Office of The Attorney General plans to proceed immediately in getting court approval to extradite a group of men wanted in the United States to face drug related charges.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a brief statement on Thursday saying it has “noted with interest the ruling of the Court of Appeal in which it reaffirmed the validity” of the treaty.
“The position of the government has always been that The Bahamas is committed to the treaty that we signed,” the statement said.
The Court of Appeal on Wednesday set aside a recent ruling made by Supreme Court Justice Jon Isaacs who had determined that the extradition treaty was null and void because it had not been properly laid before parliament back in April 1994.
Following Justice Isaac’s ruling, the Ministry had delivered a diplomatic note to the U.S. government reaffirming the country’s commitment to the extradition treaty.
After Justice Isaac’s decision several weeks ago, the Office of the Attorney General immediately appealed the ruling, insisting that the treaty was indeed valid and that the reason for his decision was wrong.
The high court agreed and indicated that it will make its reasons known in short order.
“The Minster who signed the treaty on behalf of the Government of The Bahamas did indeed have the power to do so and there was nothing that was done or not done to affect the validity of that treaty,” said Francis Cumberbatch, assistant director of public prosecutions, who spoke with The Bahama Journal on Thursday.
The treaty allows U.S. officials to seek the extradition of anyone in The Bahamas who is believed to be guilty of a crime in the U.S. or against the United States. It also allows The Bahamas to do the same for suspects in the U.S. who are wanted here.
“The ruling by the Court of Appeal means it sets aside the decision of Justice Isaacs and that the decision has the validity of the extradition treaty between the United States and the Bahamas. It means with the decision set aside we can resume extradition proceedings in this country in respect of request of the U.S and also for The Bahamas who are seeking to have persons from the U.S extradited to The Bahamas who are wanted here for trial.”
Mr. Cumberbatch indicated that the AG’s office intends to go back to the Magistrate’s Court shortly to get a quick decision regarding the extradition of Brian and Lynden Deal, Thomas Roberts; Devroy Moss, Sheldon Moore, Shanto Curry and Gordon Newbold who are being held at Her Majesty’s Prison.
Jerone Roberts, one of the attorneys in the matter, told The Bahama Journal last night that there are plans to appeal the ruling to the Privy Council
“We support the ruling of Justice Isaacs,” he said. “We believe that Justice Isaacs was right. We are in the process at the moment of sorting out all of the procedures. There is going to be no delay [in appealing] and we are acting immediately.”
By: Bianca Symonette, The Bahama Journal
