‘Bring Lance Small to court’

A HIGH COURT Judge yesterday ordered the Commissioner of Prisons to bring wanted fugitive Lance Small to court on Tuesday for the State to justify his continued detention. Justice David Myers, presiding in the Port-of-Spain High Court, made the order following an application for a writ of habeas corpus filed by attorneys representing the Jamaat Al Muslimeen member. The order was served on the Commissioner of Prisons late yesterday. Lawyers are contending that when Small was alleged to have committed firearm offences in the United States, these offences were not included on the list of offences which were extraditable. They also argue that although the Extradition (Commonwealth and Foreign Territories) Act was amended earlier this month, it does not apply to the offences for which Small is accused.

Small, 69, also called Olive Enyahooma-El, was indicted by the United States Grand Jury on May 23, 2002, on charges of conspiracy to possess firearms, contrary to the laws of the United States. The charges relate to an alleged attempt in May 2001, to import 60 AK-47 rifles and ten Mac-10 machine guns with silencers into Trinidad. Small was represented yesterday by Pamela Elder SC, Ken Wright, Owen Hinds Jr, and Richard Mason. The application for a writ of habeas corpus was the only matter heard yesterday at the Hall of Justice as the Supreme Court was still on its Easter vacation. In her submissions, Elder asked the court to grant the order so that the Commissioner of Prisons can bring Small to court so the State can justify his continued detention.

Elder pointed out that she had argued a judicial review application last month before Justice Sebastien Ventour in which she stated that the offences for which Small was charged were not among the list of cases which fell under the Extradition Act. She said that on the facts of the case, Small was alleged to have committed offences during the period April 17 to May 2000. She pointed out that the Extradition Order (Legal Notice 204 of 2001) which made firearms offences extraditable, was made in 2001, after the commission of the alleged offences. This order, she added, did not have retrospective effect and accordingly, the alleged offences were not extraditable offences.

On April 6, Justice Ventour quashed the provisional warrant issued by Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicolls for Small’s arrest, on the ground that firearm offences were not included on the list of extraditable offences. Attorney General John Jeremie, in an attempt to rectify the defects of the Extradition Order 2001, rushed the amended legislation through both the Senate and the House of Representatives. After the amendments were passed, Jeremie withdrew the previous extradition request and ordered the re-arrest of Lance Small on the same charges.

Small walked out of prison on April 7, but within five seconds, he was re-arrested by Sgt Williams of the local Interpol office and taken to the Port-of-Spain CID where the new warrant was served on him. Small was taken before the Chief Magistrate the following day where Elder made an application for McNicolls to recuse himself from hearing the matter. McNicolls disagreed, but when the case was recalled on April 14, the Chief Magistrate stepped down following a similar request from Douglas Mendes SC, representing the United States Government. The matter was transferred to Senior Magistrate Joanne Connor who started hearing evidence. The case will continue on Monday.