Trini wanted for killing Clint Huggins

A TRINIDADIAN wanted for the murder of State witness Clint Huggins is to be extradited from Canada soon. Justice Minister Martin Cauchon has ordered the extradition of Simon Raghoonanan who faces possible execution in Trinidad and Tobago, according to Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper. The sudden decision broke a two-year silence on a case with the potential to become a legal and political powder keg, since execution is mandatory for convicted murderers in Trinidad and Tobago. In a letter to Mr Raghoonanan’s lawyer, John Norris, Mr Cauchon said he has received diplomatic assurances that Mr Raghoonanan will not be executed if he is convicted. “In their note, the Trinidadian authorities state that if Mr Raghoonanan is extradited to Trinidad and Tobago to stand trial for the murder of Clint Huggins, the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago shall not seek or impose the death penalty for that charge,” Mr Cauchon wrote.

Mr Norris said in an interview that he was flabbergasted by Mr Cauchon’s decision, in view of the fact that the Trinidadian justice system requires murderers to be put to death. “The assurances they have given are directly contrary to the law of Trinidad,” he said. “The mandatory punishment for murder is death by hanging; there is no discretion involved and no distinctions made.” Mr Cauchon argued otherwise in his letter. “While you have suggested that Trinidad and Tobago cannot give such an assurance, I  see no basis to question their good faith in this regard,” he wrote. “I have concluded based on my examination of the Note that it sufficiently responds to Canada’s concerns.” Mr Raghoonanan, 41, was arrested last weekend and placed in jail. If extradited, Mr  Raghoonanan would become the first person sent to face possible execution since a 2001 Supreme Court ruling urged Canada to avoid doing so. Mr Raghoonanan was one of several men accused of pouncing on Clint Huggins on the Uriah Butler Highway, Mount Hope, on February 20, 1996, shooting him and shoving his body into his burning car. Trinidadian police believe Mr Huggins was eliminated to prevent him from testifying against reputed drug lord, Dole Chadee, who was convicted with eight other members of a gang for four murders at Williamsville in 1994. They were executed in June 1999.

A father of two teenagers who live in Trinidad, Mr Raghoonanan is a welder with no criminal record in either country. He has lived in Canada since 1988 and became a landed immigrant 10 years later. When she granted bail to Mr Raghoonanan earlier this year, an Ontario judge said that while the prosecution case against Mr Raghoonanan is not exactly frail, it does rank as “less than formidable.” She noted that the chief State witness in the prosecution — Swarsatee Maharaj — “has provided contradictory and piecemeal statements, and has been granted immunity from prosecution.” Mr Cauchon waved aside concerns about the evidence, saying in his letter that a Canadian extradition judge determined in 2001 that there was sufficient evidence to commit Mr Raghoonanan for extradition. “The weighing of the evidence and the determination of its reliability is for the trial judge in Trinidad and Tobago, which will determine whether there is sufficient evidence to support a conviction under the laws of that country,” he wrote.

Mr Norris had a court date to argue that the delays in the  case were so unreasonable that it ought to be tossed out. At the 11th hour, the Justice Department finally made its move. Mr Norris said that even the police version of Mr  Raghoonanan’s role in the Huggins slaying relegates him to a very peripheral role. At worst, he said, his client’s behaviour on the night of the killing was that of someone who had no idea a homicide was about to take place, played no part in it, and appeared terrified. In a jailhouse interview with the Globe and Mail last year, Mr Raghoonanan said he was content to place his trust in the Canadian justice system. “The justice system in Trinidad is corrupt,” he said.