Attorneys for a group of men at Her Majesty’s Prison fighting extradition to the United States want the Privy Council to grant a stay of a recent decision by the Court of Appeal which determined that the Extradition Treaty between The Bahamas and the U.S. is legal.
That decision last week reversed an earlier ruling of the Supreme Court which had determined that the treaty was null and void.
At stake is the fate 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.
The United States is seeking their extradition so that they would face drug-related charges.
One of their attorneys, Godfrey “Pro” Pinder, said on Wednesday that the attorneys are seeking a determination from the high court in London before its present session concludes at the end of next month.
“If the law is no good, it shouldn’t be on the books and one judge in the Supreme Court ruled that the law was null and void by virtue of certain negligent behaviour by the House of Assembly in that they neglected to lay the Extradition Treaty before the House of Assembly or table it,” Mr. Pinder said.
He added, “One judge ruled with respect to that that funds are being spent to deal with this matter on behalf of the United States and that has not been voted by the House of Assembly and that’s another infraction of our laws and our rules. There has to be something done by the Ministry of Finance or some form of a group of people related to Finance before they can start spending money.”
Mr. Pinder said that he does not have a problem with extraditions on the face of it.
“What I have a problem with is the way in which they seem to lean more in favour of the prosecution or rather the state that is making the applications for extradition. They seem to do it ‘willy nilly’, except for every now and then there is a judge who stands up and makes a decision based on the law rather than on rubber stamping. They may not be rubber stamping, but it appears to me that rubber stamping is taking place.”
Last week, Francis Cumberbatch, assistant director of public prosecutions, said that the Attorney General’s Office planned to move speedily to seek the extradition of the men.
“The ruling by the Court of Appeal means it sets aside the decision of Justice [Jon] Isaacs and that the decision has the validity of the extradition treaty between the United States and The Bahamas,” Mr. Cumberbatch said.
“It means with the decision set aside we can resume extradition proceedings in this country in respect of requests 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.”
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.
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
