“As soon as I consult with my colleague, Edward Fitzgerald, I will file the papers,” Mr. Minnis told The Bahama Journal.
Knowles reportedly okayed the decision, three days after the minister signed a warrant of surrender to have him escorted out of Her Majestyﾒs Prison and extradited to the United States to face drug charges there, despite a pending hearing in the Supreme Court, as was pointed out by the Privy Council in its recent ruling when it rejected his appeal.
U.S. authorities made their first extradition request for Knowles 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 intent to distribute and conspiracy to import the same drugs into the United States between November 11, 1997 and December 8, 2000.
The second request was made on February 6, 2002 and was founded on an indictment by a federal grand jury on May 25, 2000. It charged Knowles and others with counts of conspiracy to smuggle cocaine into the United States between June 1995 and 1997.
Knowlesﾒ attorneys have insisted all along that the drug kingpin label placed on him by U.S. President George W. Bush would mean that he could not get a fair trial in the United States.
Last December, the Privy Council ruled that it is up to the court in a country requesting extradition to decide whether a defendant could get a fair trial in the foreign state.
But Knowlesﾒ legal team maintains that there are substantial grounds that indicate that he might not receive a fair trial in the United States.
They also insist that he was not granted due process under Bahamian law and that Minister Mitchellﾒs decision amounted to contempt of court.
But in what came as a surprise move to some, Knowles was flown to Florida and taken to the Federal Detention Centre last Monday.
“When he got to Fort Lauderdale, the U.S. marshal refused to accept him because the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) did not have the proper paperwork and so they were there for more than three hours before some documentation came from Washington and thatﾒs when they took him to Miami,” Mr. Minnis said.
“And thatﾒs what I found to be sort of disturbing because I thought that whatever he went on from here, would have been sufficient for them to take him into their custody, but they refused to accept him.”
Knowles appeared in court last Thursday for a first hearing, but the charges against him were not read.
One U.S. official told The Journal that was because Knowles had not had a chance to consult with his Bahamian attorney, who had flown in to Florida, and Knowles also did not have an opportunity to consult with his family.
“I was the only one that was able to speak to him,” Mr. Minnis told The Journal.
“No one will be able to speak to him until after he has gone through some two-week orientation period at the Detention Centre and then he will put on a list who could come and see himﾅBut he was happy to see a familiar face from home. He said he was still punch drunk from everything that had happenedﾅHe expected to at least fight this last battle because he said he did everything the legal way.”
Knowles will be back in court on Tuesday at which time the charges against him are expected to be read formally.
The arraignment hearing is scheduled for 10am at the U.S. District Court in Florida.
By: Macushla N. Pinder, The Bahama Journal
