Embattled Independent Liberal Party (ILP) leader and former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner is not leaving T&T anytime soon.
According to former attorney general Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, SC, Warner could spend between seven and eight years fighting his extradition in court.
He said one thing Warner had going for him was his lawyer Edward Fitzgerald, QC, a leading extradition practitioner for the past 20 years, who has a track record of winning extradition cases worldwide.
Fitzgerald represented Gary McKinnon, a Scottish systems administrator and hacker, who was accused in 2002 of perpetrating the biggest military computer hack of all time. For many years, Fitzgerald represented McKinnon in a judicial review proceedings and drafted the representations to the British Home Secretary which resulted in her withdrawing the order for his client’s extradition.
From mid-July, Maharaj said, he would host a series of public meetings to explain how Warner’s extradition could be tied up in the court system for years and the Government was only fooling citizens with its claim that Warner’s last days in Trinidad were imminent.
Faced with extradition to the US on racketeering, corruption and bribery charges, Warner, 72, at an ILP meeting in Claxton Bay on Tuesday, dared authorities to take him to the US.
Warner, who surrendered himself to Fraud Squad officers on May 27 after learning that a provisional warrant had been issued for his arrest, emphatically stated that he was not leaving T&T “not now, not ever.”
Accused of accepting a $10 million bribe in exchange for helping South Africa secure the right to host the 2010 World Cup, Warner told supporters, “I’ll be here not for five, ten or 15 years. I will be here for a very long time and they could take that and carry it to the bank! Everyone wants to see Jack leave here. They are pushing for Jack to leave, but up to today they can’t lay a single charge. I ain’t running and hiding. All I can say is bring it on and when they bring it on it will be a long, hot summer.”
Warner’s bold assertion came two days after a report in the Express newspaper that official documentation requesting his extradition had been delivered to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The US Embassy in Port-of-Spain in a release issued last Monday stated that the US Department of Justice had not yet sent any final requests for Warner’s extradition to the T&T authorities.
Extradition proceedings
would have to be stayed
On Wednesday, Maharaj said the extradition process did not mean that as soon as a foreign country made a request, the person regarding whom the request was made would immediately be extradited to the requesting country.
Maharaj said first there was a 60-day period for Warner’s extradition papers to be filed in the court.
“When those papers are filed, the court has to listen to submissions as to whether the extradition is within the law. If there is a constitutional issue raised before the magistrate, the magistrate does not have any jurisdiction to deal with constitutional rights, issues or violation of the Constitution.”
Maharaj said Warner, through his attorneys, could then ask the magistrate under Section 14 of the Constitution to refer the matter to the High Court to determine the issue.
“The magistrate will have to refer the matter to the High Court unless the points raised by Warner’s lawyers are frivolous or vexatious.”
When the matter is referred to the High Court, Warner has a right to appeal any decision of the High Court, to the Court of Appeal and Privy Council. “In the meantime, the extradition proceedings would have to be stayed. Warner cannot be extradited,” Maharaj said.
Even if the magistrate refused to refer the matter to the High Court, Maharaj said Warner’s lawyers can apply for judicial review of the magistrate’s decision before the High Court. “The High Court decision in a judicial review, under the Judicial Review Act, can be appealed in the same way as a right [of appeal] to the High Court, Court of Appeal and Privy Council.”
A long drawn-out process
If the matter reaches and finishes in the Privy Council and Warner did not succeed, Maharaj said, “The matter would have to go back to the magistrates court. There, Warner’s lawyers can argue on the evidential aspect of the matter. Based on that evidential aspect any decision of the magistrate can be reviewed on judicial review to the High Court. And from the High Court to the Court of Appeal to the Privy Council.”
In a nutshell, Maharaj said, “This would be a long, drawn-out process, as long as there are legal points to be argued. This legal process can take years, as long as seven to eight years in Trinidad.”
Maharaj said, hence, the reason Warner was not bothered about the extradition.
“No one can’t come just so and take him on a plane to the US. If they do that it would be an abuse of process.” Warner is entitled to due process of law and enjoyment of his constitutional rights in the home country.
Maharaj said it would be a difficult task to extradite Warner since Fitzgerald, along with local attorney Fyard Hosein, SC, would put up a hard fight.
‘Warner doing damage to
their image and character’
Meanwhile, Maharaj said Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and her Government should not undermine the Constitution and due process of law to extradite Warner who has become a weapon against the Government, doing great damage to their image and character.
On Thursday, Warner, who is on $2.5 million bail, will appear before Chief Magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar in the Port-of-Spain Court when the matter next comes up for hearing.