May 12 hearing on ‘issue’

The setting of the hearing date on May 12 did not come easy as attorneys representing the AG, led by Douglas Mendes SC, called on the judge to fix the earliest possible date for the matter as the case has been going on for more than a year. This came after Warner’s junior counsel Anil Maraj indicated that lead counsel Fyard Hosein SC, will not be available in May because of other commitments, and suggested a date in June.

Mendes said this was unacceptable and after several minutes of backand- forth on Monday, Justice Aboud set the May 12 date. Warner’s attorneys have been advised to file an application to have that date vacated or appeal the judge’s decision to set the date. The matter before Justice Aboud veered off course when the United States sought to be heard in the lawsuit.

They were refused by Justice Aboud and appealed. In December, the Court of Appeal ruled that the US Government will not be allowed to make an appearance or enter submissions in Warner’s judicial review claim.

The judges said that the US did not show that its interests and that of the AG were different, and questioned why the need for separate representation.

Warner’s lawyers argued that the issue up for determination was strictly domestic and, as such, did not warrant the participation of the US. His lawsuit challenges the process by which the extradition proceedings against him are being carried out and seeks to quash the Authority to Proceed (ATP) which was signed last September by Attorney General Faris Al Rawi.

The ATP gave Chief Magistrate Marcia Ayers-Caesar the green light to begin committal proceedings. Warner is also challenging the legality of the Extradition (Commonwealth and Foreign Territories) Act, and the Treaty signed between this country and the United States.

Warner is wanted in the United States for a series of fraud-related offences allegedly committed during his tenure as vice-president of world football’s governing body.