No more clarification is needed on the charges that accused drug kingpin Samuel ‘Ninety’ Knowles was extradited to answer, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement released at the weekend.
Assistant US Attorney George Karavetsos had said at Knowles’ arraignment in Miami last Tuesday that the US Government was proceeding with charges stemming from only one of two indictments against Knowles, because it was awaiting clarification from the government of The Bahamas on what charges it had extradited Knowles to answer.
However, the Ministry said that from its point of view, “no further clarification is required.”
“The government of the United States was notified on 4th September, 2006, that the warrant of surrender related only to those charges in the request of the United States on 16th December 2003.”
The statement added: “Under the terms of the Extradition Treaty between The Bahamas and the United States, the person extradited can only be charged on those offences for which he has been extradited.”
But the US Attorney’s Office has reaffirmed that it wants the government of The Bahamas to explain the matter in greater detail.
While the US Attorney’s Office on Friday conceded that Knowles’ warrant of surrender listed the charges it could proceed on, the agency explained that both indictments had similar charges and that the government of The Bahamas had not specified which indictment Knowles was surrendered to answer.
The warrant, which cleared the way for Knowles to be extradited on August 28, and which was signed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell on the same date, has the following schedule of charges: (1) Conspiracy to Possess Dangerous Drugs with intent to Supply, namely Cocaine; (2) Conspiracy to Import Dangerous Drugs, namely Cocaine.
“Both indictments charged conspiracy to import and [possess] with intent to supply [with] intent to distribute cocaine, but cover different time periods,” the US Attorney’s Office told the Nassau Guardian in a written response to inquiries regarding specific charges against Knowles. It noted that one indictment (00-0425-CR-COHN) covered a conspiracy from 1995-1996 and the other (00-1091-CR-HIGHSMITH) from 1997-2000.
“The Bahamian warrant of surrender, however, does not specify which indictment or what time periods of the charged drug conspiracies Knowles was sent to the United States to answer,” added the agency.
Said the US Attorney’s Office: “When Knowles was in The Bahamas, he filed motions to quash both extradition requests on grounds that he would be denied a fair trial if sent to the United States because President (George W) Bush designated Knowles a drug “Kingpin.”
In a habeas petition, a lower court dismissed extradition proceedings.
“The Bahamian government appealed the lower court’s decision to the Appellate Court and the lower court’s decision was overturned. Knowles then appealed to the Privy (Council). The Privy (Council) stated that the Appellate Court lost jurisdiction to hear the government appeal once the lower court granted Knowles’ habeas petition. Thus, the Privy (Council) upheld the lower court’s granting of Knowles’ habeas petition on 00-1091-CR-HIGHSMITH case.
“Hence, until we receive further word from the Bahamian government, we are proceeding against Knowles on the December 200O indictment (00-0425-CR-COHN)- and he has been arraigned on these charges.”
A ruling handed down by Supreme Court Justice John Lyons on September 28, on a habeas corpus application regarding Knowles, revealed that Knowles was first indicted on May 25, 2000 by Federal Grand Jury in the Southern District of Florida with charges of smuggling cocaine.
According to the ruling, the Grand Jury returned a separate indictment on December 8, 2000, with charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana, conspiracy to import cocaine and marijuana, possession with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana and importation of cocaine and marijuana.
By: RAYMOND KONGWA, The Nassau Guardian
