The extradition order for the convicted drug offender was signed last week by Foreign Affairs Minister Fred Mitchell, but Knowles’ transfer to the US to face drug smuggling charges was prohibited because of the order now before the court.
In the latest round of legal battles to fight the extradition, Knowles’ lawyers are arguing that he should not be extradited to the US as President Bush had already placed him on a list of “foreign narcotics kingpins” jeopardising his chances of receiving a fair trail. However, attorneys for the US have assured the court that Knowles will receive a fair trial.
Knowles’ lawyer applied for an ex parte order asking for a stay of extradition. The stay was granted by the judge.
An ex parte order means that Knowles’ lawyers, considering the matter urgent, would have gone to the court without notifying the Attorney General’s office. Therefore, the ex parte order would not have been argued before the court by lawyers from the Attorney Genereal’s office.
When the Attorney General’s office received notice that the judge had approved the stay, Mr. Francis Cumberbatch, who appeared for the Crown, argued before the court that the order should not have been granted, and that the question of habeas corpus should no longer arise as the matter had already gone through the whole court system up to the Privy Council in London.
The judge rejected his argument saying that he would make a ruling on the stay of extradition only after he had heard the whole habeas corpus argument.
So far the Attorney General has not given his staff orders to appeal this decision by the judge.
Source: The Tribune
