A judge yesterday ordered accused drug lord Samuel “Ninety” Knowles back to Her Majesty’s Prison, dismissing an appeal filed by his attorney attempting to block his extradition to the United States.
After an hour of rehashing grounds upon which the accused expected to be released, President of the Court of Appeal Justice Dame Joan Sawyer said that Knowles would be once again placed in police custody and escorted back to prison to await “a decision by the minister responsible for extradition.”
Meanwhile, the judge ordered warrants of “immediate arrest” for Knowles’ co-conspirators, Lemuel Gibson and Frank Cartwright, who had been released earlier and were not present for the ruling.
Justice Sawyer’s decision overturned an earlier ruling of Justice Jon Isaacs on February 5, 2001, who ordered that the three men be released. At the same time, it restored a decision made by Magistrate Carolita Bethel, who last year approved the extradition of Knowles to the United States.
Magistrate Bethel said the Court was satisfied that nothing was submitted to suggest Knowles would not have a fair trial in the United States, nor that he would be tried on the basis of his color, race or religion. She said that the offenses of conspiracy to possess and import cocaine are extraditable.
There has been a series of appeals in the high-profile extradition case, following a joint investigation in 2000 involving the United States, Canada and the Bahamas, in which Knowles was pinpointed as one of the alleged major players in the importation and distribution of massive amounts of cocaine from the Caribbean into the North American market.
Unshaven and clad in a blue jacket, Knowles, who appeared unshaken by the decision, immediately rose to his feet to be escorted by armed guards assigned to secure the immediate area and the front door of the Court of Appeal.
Immediately following the decision, attorney Roger Minnis, a member of Knowles’ legal team, said there will be a further appeal.
“We will seek leave to appeal this decision to the Privy Council in London,” Mr. Minnis told reporters after the ruling.
Meanwhile, attorney Francis Cumberbatch from the Attorney General’s Office expressed satisfaction in yesterday’s ruling.
By Macushla N. Pinder, The Bahama Journal
