Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 26/Sep 05:38

Extradition embarrassment

A HIGH COURT judge on September 23 ended years-long extradition proceedings against Jack Warner. Given all that came to light in the case at a hearing last month, Justice Karen Reid’s ruling is not surprising. That does not make the outcome any less far-reaching for justice. Few blunders could be more embarrassing, or sinister, than what occurred in this case. Basic paperwork was missing for a decade. The proceedings engaged the attention of the Magistrates’ Court, the High Court, the Court of Appeal and even the Privy Council under the assumption that the documentation was somewhere in a file. It wasn’t. It took a relatively low-level judicial officer, Chief Magistrate Maria Busby Earle-Caddle, to make a finding in 2023 of “colossal misrepresentation” within the state’s certification. That finding triggered a domino effect that culminated in this month’s ruling. “Ordinarily, civil courts are slow to make any decision, the effect of which is to thwart the conduct of criminal prosecutions,” Justice Reid correctly noted. But this was no ordinary case; routine written assurances meant to guarantee certain limits to Mr Warner’s US prosecution were, ultimately, a fiction. Said the judge, “The only arrangement existing between the requesting state and TT is the treaty.” That treaty notwithstanding, Mr Warner’s case has revealed serious systemic failings under successive administrations. It is now incumbent on the authorities to fix what is broken. This is even more urgent when we consider the political complexion of extraditions: the forcible removal of a citizen to face charges abroad involves executive authorisation. And as shown by the recent upholding of a US$131 million Piarco airport fraud judgment by a US court of appeal, ours is a system in which justice in corruption cases is more likely to be done away than locally. That makes the repercussions of a dysfunctional extradition system even more dire. Mr Warner, 82, has triumphed; but he is hardly vindicated, even if presumed innocent. It is unlikely he will ever have his day in court – any court – in relation to the FIFA allegations, which garnered global attention, brought down other FIFA jefes like him and triggered the attempt to extradite him. This contrasts with the fate of others like his sons, Daryll and Daryan Warner, who in 2013 in the US waived indictment and pleaded guilty to wire fraud in a sweeping crackdown on football officials. Daryan forfeited US$1.1 million and initially agreed to pay a second sum tied to allegations, which included money laundering. Separately, regarding Piarco, it is well known that some defendants pleaded guilty, settled, and already served time in a US jail. Dangerous is a legal system that cannot try white-collar charges or deliver accused people to countries that can. The post Extradition embarrassment appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.