Mark Seawell may be out on bail soon

In news from the courts, the notorious Mark Seawell, who has been in prison since February, 2007 and is still awaiting the outcome of an extradition request made by the U.S. government, may soon be out on bail. At the extradition hearing this morning in Magistrates Court, Elson Kaseke, Seawell’s attorney, submitted that there is no authority to hold Seawell because the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who ordered his arrest, did not have the power to so do when extradition requests are made and is therefore an oversight in the law. Kaseke then asked for bail to be granted to Seawell and Chief Magistrate Margaret McKenzie suggested that he should take the matter to the Supreme Court. In 1997 Mark and his brother, Gary were named as co-conspirators in a U.S. Federal drug indictment. Their alleged U.S. accomplices had pleaded guilty to the importation of cocaine to Columbus, Ohio. The extradition hearing was adjourned until February twenty-seventh, 2009.