Mendes: Extradition Act changed for public good

PASSING the amended Extradition Act of 2004 was not an attempt by Parliament to punish Jamaat-al-Muslimeen member Lance Small for something he had allegedly done in the past. It was intended to protect the public and to permit Trinidad and Tobago to comply with the conditions of the treaty. This was one of the submissions made yesterday by Douglas Mendes SC, appearing for the Commissioner of  Prisons before Justice Rajendra Narine at the Port-of-Spain Assizes. Mendes was responding to submissions made by defence attorney Pamela Elder SC, who is representing Small in his fight to avoid extradition to the United States to face gun related charges. “All that has happened is that an obstacle in the way of the extradition application was removed, and new power has been given to the Attorney General and the Magistrates’ Court to extraditions made applicable to offences occurring in the past,” Mendes said.

This argument was in response to Elder’s argument that the amended Act, although retrospective, could not apply to offences that had not been extraditable prior to its passage, and that the speedy amendment had been directed at her client. Mendes said extradition legislation did not create offences and could not be categorised as penal or criminal. It simply provided for a procedure whereby someone could be extradited to answer charges in another country. He said Small’s detention in prison and the ruling by Senior Magistrate Joanne Connor on September 21 to extradite him, was not punishment for something he had allegedly done in the past. That, he said, was something for the requesting state to address.

In response to Elder’s argument that her client could not be extradited to the US to face conspiracy charges because he had allegedly conspired in Trinidad, Mendes said if that argument was upheld, Trinidad would become a safe haven for persons to perform the most “dastardly acts” and get away with them if the offences were not extraditable. Although the fugitive had conspired in Trinidad, Mendes said, his intention had been to collect the firearms in Florida and bring it back to Trinidad. Small, 69, also known as Olive Enyahooma-El, is wanted in Ft Lauderdale, Florida, to face charges relating to a conspiracy to bring 60 AK-47 rifles into this country and possession of ten MAC-10 weapons and ten silencers. The offences had allegedly been committed between April 17 2000 and May 30 2001. Appearing with Mendes are attorneys Dana Seetahal and Sean Julien. Owen Hinds Jr and Ken Wright appear with Elder for Small.