D.P.P. to argue for El-Sayed to be tried in absentia

There is news to report in the immigration scandal tonight as latest reports from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions indicate that on Tuesday, a formal request will be made to Justice Adolph Lucas to proceed with the case against fifty-three year old Hassan El-Sayed, in absentia. El-Sayed is accused of facilitating the possession of one hundred and nineteen forged official documents, namely Belizean passports. El-Sayed was scheduled to stand trial with another Belize City businessman Jabor “Gabby” Affif on additional charges of abetment of possession of forged official documents. But in October 2005, his bail at the Supreme Court, a house valued at two hundred thousand dollars, was seized after he failed to show up for the trial on numerous occasions. Since then, there has been no movement in the case, but it is expected that on Tuesday D.P.P. Kirk Anderson will make an appearance before Justice Lucas to lay out the grounds to have the case proceed irregardless of El-Sayed’s absence. Tonight it is believed that Hassan El-Sayed has absconded to Lebanon. Before his departure, he retained attorneys Michel Chebat and Edwin Flowers to present his legal defence. The immigration scandal rocked the country in July 2002 when it was discovered that a large number of Belizean passports and nationality applications had been forged and that those documents had been illegally issued to unscreened and unqualified purchasers. Only one other person has appeared in court in this matter: Odette’s Store employee Therese Cabral, who was fined eleven thousand dollars after being convicted of eleven counts of forgery. Cabral was also represented by Senior Counsel Edwin Flowers.