(Trinidad Express) The United States government has moved in on corruption-accused Jack Warner.
Attorney General Garvin Nicholas announced at an impromptu news conference yesterday the extradition request for Warner was now in his hands.
Nicholas also assured there will be no political interference in the matter.
Nicholas called a news conferen
ce at 6.25 p.m. at the Office of the Attorney General, Cabildo building, Port of Spain, to disclose this information in a brief statement.
“I have this evening received the formal request for the extradition of Mr Warner with the supporting extradition package,” said Nicholas.
“The process is now for me to examine the documentation and consider the evidence and decide whether to issue the authority to process. This is of course a serious and substantial matter and must be given due time and attention,” he added.
Nicholas then answered a number of questions from the media.
Warner, a former FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) vice-president and leader of the Independent Liberal Party (ILP), has charged on numerous occasions that the Government was conspiring to get him out of this country. He has repeatedly said he has no intention of going anywhere without a fight and it will be a “long, hot summer”.
Nicholas said the legal process will be followed.
No political interference
Asked whether he can assure Warner and citizens there is no political interference in the extradition, given that the September 7 general election was just a few weeks away, Nicholas said, “This matter has absolutely nothing to do with politics… this is an extradition request made by the United States government. We’ve dealt with several extraditions over the last few months.
“This is also a matter that does not only concern Mr Warner, it concerns 14 persons that the Americans had asked to be extradited to the US to face charges. The State has gone about this and certainly the office of the Attorney General and all the players, whether it be the police, etc, has gone about this as professionally as possible following the letter of the law and offering Mr Warner and his team all due courtesies when possible.”
Asked for a time frame on his consideration of the extradition request, Nicholas said, “I will not put a time frame on my consideration time. The document, as you can see from the bundle, is quite significant and therefore requires due consideration.”
Nicholas said the extradition documents were sent from the United States Department of Justice to the US Embassy in Trinidad, which then sent them to the Foreign Affairs Ministry. Copies were sent to the Attorney General’s office and Central Authority.
“It is important to decide whether there is a case to be answered; and if there is a case to be answered, then the authority to proceed will be granted. And if in the Attorney General’s discretion, there is not a case or sufficient evidence to proceed, then that is the discretion that will be exercised,” said Nicholas.
He said once a decision is taken, Warner’s legal team will be notified and be given the opportunity to peruse all the evidence and a trial date will be set that is convenient to all sides.
Nicholas said there are no US officials in Trinidad on the case and it is in the hands of this country’s authorities to deal with the matter.
Battery of lawyers
Warner is being represented by a battery of attorneys, including Fyard Hosein, SC, Nyree Alphonso, Rishi Dass and Anil Maharaj.
He has also retained British QC, Edward Fitzgerald, to lead his defence.
The State’s legal team includes Pamela Elder, SC, attorneys Jagdeo Singh and Gerald Ramdeen, along with Alan Newman, QC, and James Lewis.
Questioned on why no State-employed attorneys were working on the case and instead all these lawyers were retained, Nicholas said: “We sought to get the experts in the field in criminal law, judicial review and extradition, and that was the decision made.”
Asked why attorneys were not sought from the Solicitor General’s Department, he said, “The Solicitor General’s office at the moment is actually quite stretched and this being such a significant matter that required a lot of time, a lot of attention and certainly action within a relatively short period of time. It was thought the best way to go was this way.”
Ramdeen stays
Questioned on whether any consideration was given to removing attorney Gerald Ramdeen from the State’s legal team, given the allegations levelled against him with respect to “Prisongate”, Nicholas said, “No, I’m not.” Pressed why, Nicholas said, “I’m not.”
Nicholas, when asked by the media for proof and to show the first page and date of the document to verify it was indeed the extradition request, said: “No, I don’t intend to show the document.”
He said he decided to inform the media of the arrival of the extradition request was to prevent the rumour mill from running and also because of the public interest in the case.
Sunday Express exclusive
The Sunday Express exclusively reported this week that Warner’s extradition request would reach this country by Wednesday (yesterday), days before the July 27 deadline specified by the extradition treaty for the final request to be made.
Warner was among 14 football officials and marketing executives arrested in a sweeping US$150 million bribery scheme stretching over nearly a quarter of a century on May 27 in a dramatic US crackdown on global corruption in football.
Warner was charged with eight counts of financial crimes in connection with the FIFA corruption case, according to the US Department of Justice indictment, which was unsealed in the Eastern District Court in New York, USA, in May.
Warner has denied all of the charges made against him and has promised to put up a long legal battle to US prosecutors’ bid to extradite him to New York to face charges of money laundering, wire fraud and racketeering.
Warner’s sons, Daryll and Daryan Warner, have already pleaded guilty to US corruption charges in exchange for reduced jail time.
