In the face of high public anxiety over the allegation that the extradition of accused drug kingpin Samuel “Ninety” Knowles one week ago may have been premature, the Free National Movement said in a statement on Sunday “we hear nothing but a deafening and contemptuous silence from the PLP government.”
The FNM also hit out at Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson, saying reports suggested that she had tried to publicly pressure her colleagues in this matter.
“Mrs. Gibson is a lawyer of many years standing and she understands, or ought to understand, the conventions governing the exercise of her duties as the chief legal adviser to the government,” the partyﾒs statement said.
“Under no circumstances should she indicate publicly what advice she gave to the government or to a ministerial colleague in this or any other matter.”
However, despite press reports, the attorney general has never publicly commented on the Knowles extradition matter. On Friday, she told The Bahama Journal she had no plans on commenting.
Two weeks ago, The Bahama Journal confirmed through information from a contact close to the extradition matter that the attorney general had recommended to Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell that the extradition proceed given that Knowles had exhausted his appeals.
But at no point did the attorney general make any comment on a radio talk show or was quoted in the press talking about the extradition of Knowles.
Still, the FNM said that because she has not denied or attempted to clarify what some segments of media had reported, “the public is justified in concluding that she did indeed try to publicly pressure her colleagues in this serious matter.”
The FNM further charged that ministers have repeatedly made public policy pronouncements on matters that have not been decided by the Cabinet, quarreled publicly about their responsibilities and exerted public pressure on one another in policy matters.
“This is an intolerable state of affairs and would not be allowed in any other government practicing the same system,” the statement said.
The extradition of Knowles last week fueled public debate with many people, including PLP Senator Damien Gomez, who represented Knowles on civil matters, saying the government did not allow due process in the matter given that the accused drug dealer had an application before the Supreme Court that was set to be heard later this month.
Knowlesﾒ attorney, Roger Minnis, who flew to Florida to see him last week, said he wants to push ahead with a lawsuit against Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell, who signed the warrant of surrender.
Asked on Friday whether he was disappointed that the government had not made any public statements on the extradition matter, except to confirm that Knowles had been extradited, U.S. Ambassador to The Bahamas John Rood said, “No. I think the government probably looks at it like I do, that itﾒs a judicial issue and it went through its process and in this case the process meant that the appeals were exhausted and it was time for him to be extradited.”
By: Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
