(Trinidad Guardian) Parliamentarians are not immune from extradition. That was the comment given to the Miami Herald newspaper by Peter Carr, a spokesman for the United States Department of Justice, following former national security minister Jack Warner’s successful re-election as the MP for the Chaguanas West constituency on Monday. Carr gave the comment as the newspaper highlighted Warner’s election victory despite the fact that several allegations of bribery and corruption during his tenure in Fifa and Concacaf still hang over his head, and the fact that he is the subject of an FBI investigation.
Responding to questions about the allegations over Warner’s head and the FBI probe, Carr said the US Department of Justice does not comment on cases under investigation. But he noted that “parliamentarians are not immune from extradition.” Warner’s victory received international attention, with news outlets as far as New Zealand reporting on the election results. Warner, who was also the chairman of the United National Congress, resigned from his posts and his seat in Parliament in April, after a damning report on his tenure at Concacaf, which was prepared by Sir David Simmons. Warner has since threatened to sue Simmons over the report. Following his resignation, Warner formed the Independent Liberal Party and beat the Government’s candidate, Khadijah Ameen, in a landslide victory on Monday.
International newspapers have described Warner as an ex-soccer official who made a “political comeback.” The Washington Post said Warner had easily won back a seat in Parliament just after he was forced to resign from government because of “corruption allegations stemming from his tenure as a longtime soccer power broker.” The paper also mentioned that at the time, Warner was the country’s national security minister. An Indian news outlet, News Track India, attributed Warner’s win to “Indian expats,” as it described the T&T Indian community. It said Warner could “claim credit for this turnaround in the fortunes of the Indian expatriate community. He is popular among them, has both charm and charisma, and almost always brings a fresh air of hope to the political landscape.”
