C.J. rebukes Govt. for kidnapping drug suspect
It created quite a stir back in April when accused drug runners George Herbert and Liston McCord were led up the steps of a U.S. Government jet and flown off to a future that would likely include a long stretch in Federal Prison. But if the D.E.A.’s snatching of two suspected criminals raised eyebrows, the decision this morning by Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh blew the roof off the courthouse. Ruling on a constitutional motion brought by Herbert, through Attorney Dean Barrow, Conteh exposed his expulsion as nothing less than state sponsored kidnapping. Reading from notes taken from the C.J.’s judgement this morning, Barrow explained to News 5 the main points of the decision.
Dean Barrow, Attorney for George Herbert
“He gave two declarations, the first being that the rights of George Herbert under sections five, six and ten of the Belize Constitution were violated by the respondents, being the Attorney General representing the Commissioner of Police and the Minister of Police. The second declaration was that in the circumstances, what was done amounted to an unlawful expulsion of George Herbert, a citizen of Belize from the territory of Belize. His third order was, and I quote, “I direct the respondent to put in place measures to secure the return of the applicant to Belize, including all such diplomatic approaches as may be appropriate.” Fourthly, “the respondent is to hold an inquiry,” the respondent again being the Attorney General for the Government of Belize, “the respondent is to hold an inquiry into the circumstances of this incident and to take disciplinary proceedings against those responsible.” And then fifthly, he made an award of thirty thousand dollars with interest at six percent to be paid as damages by the Government to Herbert. And finally an award of five thousand dollars for costs to Herbert, again to be paid by the Government of Belize.”
While the chances of the U.S. Government returning George Herbert to Belize are somewhere between slim and none, the Chief Justice’s directive regarding discipline of the offending parties is something that government must take seriously. Having already admitted in court that he was the man in charge, will the hammer now fall on Commissioner of Police Carmen Zetina?
Dean Barrow
“Whether there will actually be any attempt to discipline the Police Commissioner is perhaps a trickier question. The Government might well say, we’ll hold the inquiry first and at the end of that inquiry could perhaps legitimately say the results don’t disclose a basis for disciplining the Commissioner. It would I think cause eyebrows to be raised, because in fact under cross-examination by me the Commissioner admitted that he had no authority to do what he did and that he knew at the time he did it that he didn’t have authority to do it. So in a sense, the matter doesn’t need to be inquired into as a result of his admissions. But I can see the Government engaging in the process to satisfy the Chief Justice’s order, but somehow manipulating that process so that in the end nobody takes any additional heat.”
But the question still remains of why Herbert and McCord were Shanghaied in the first place, especially when they could have been extradited quite legally. Barrow, despite his political inclinations, does not see a high level conspiracy at work.
Dean Barrow
“The Americans will pressure you to come up with the sorts of legal instruments that they want, in terms of mutual cooperation, in terms of what they call, international cooperation with respect to criminal offences. But I have never known, certainly in the time I was there, the Americans to pressure you to do something in an extralegal way. They want to make sure that the legal way is so airtight that when they come after your citizens via those legal mechanisms there’s no way your citizens can escape. But in the normal course, they do come via the legal mechanisms. I am surprised, or I would be surprised if it were confirmed that this play had the sanction or was directed by, certainly the U.S. Ambassador. What I know of him, I would find that unbelievable, or even by the State Department. I suspect rather it was really a case of a collaboration between the Commissioner and the resident agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.”
In a press release issued late this afternoon, the government of Belize announced its decision to appeal today’s verdict. The release repeated G.O.B.’s original claim that Herbert and McCord voluntarily agreed to fly to the U.S.A. to face prosecution. The problem here is that Commissioner Zetina has already testified that after being told by D.E.A. representative Vince Williams that the two men voluntarily agreed to go to the States, Zetina ordered them turned over without making the slightest effort to determine whether this assertion was true. Since Williams has diplomatic immunity, he cannot be forced to tell the court his side of the story. As for Liston McCord, he has already entered into a plea bargain arrangement with the U.S. Government. We understand that Herbert has refused all cooperation with Federal authorities.
