El Turk will soon know if he will be extradited to U.S.A.

Khalid Jamil El Turk

Extradition proceedings for Lebanese businessman Khalid Jamil El Turk to be handed over to U.S. authorities continued this morning in the courtroom of Chief Magistrate Anne Marie Smith.  El Turk, who is wanted for his role in conspiring to import pseudo-ephedrine, is being represented by senior counsel Edwin Flowers and attorney Anthony Sylvester.  In his last court appearance on April twenty-second, El Turk’s lawyers argued that the request for his surrender ought to have been predicated on the fact that possession of the substance, the chemical foundation for methamphetamine, is illegal in both Belize and the United States.  As it is, there is currently no legislation declaring pseudo-ephedrine or methamphetamine controlled substances nor are there any laws prohibiting possession of the compounds here.  In court today, attorney Magali Perdomo once again varied the terms of El Turk’s extradition request, stating that he is wanted abroad for possession of methamphetamine, with intent to traffic.

Anthony Sylvester, Attorney representing Khalid Jamil El Turk

Anthony Sylvester

“On the last occasion when we came to court the United States government they made their submissions and we were to return today to court to reply to those submissions.  Let me go back a little bit.  You will recall that in October of last year a provisional warrant was issued for Mr. El Turk and he was sought by the United States government for the crimes of Conspiracy to Import Pseudo-Ephedrine and Importation of Pseudo-Ephedrine in the United States.  Now, when we made our first submissions we pointed out to the court that the dealing with pseudo-ephedrine is not a criminal offense in Belize because in order for a person to be properly extradited the requesting state, in this case the United States government, would have to establish and have to prove that the offense is an offense not only in the United States but also in Belize.  So, we, very early on in these extradition proceedings, were able to show the court that dealing in pseudo-ephedrine is not a criminal offense in Belize.  So what the United States government, through its representative, sought to do is sought to maneuver their extradition request to then state that well we now want Mr. El Turk for dealing with methamphetamine.  That was the submission that was made on the last occasion.  We did our research and we, in fact, found that methamphetamine is not listed as a controlled drug in the misuse of drugs act, which means therefore that it is not a criminal offense to deal with methamphetamine.  There is a drug listed in the misuse of drugs act which is called methyl amphetamine.  Now, as with all court process there has to be evidence to support or substantiate what is said in court.  The United States government is now saying that methyl amphetamine and methamphetamine are one and the same thing.  However, in their extradition bundle, because you will recall that the request is made by submitting a bundle of documents to the foreign ministry and that in turn is submitted to the court.  Now nowhere in this bundle is there any evidence, by way of the forensic chemist, they have a forensic chemist who swore to an affidavit and this affidavit only deposed that pseudo-ephedrine is a controlled drug but it did not speak to the fact that methyl amphetamine or methamphetamine they are controlled drugs or they are one and the same.  And a court, just as most of the viewers here, are lay persons, they would not know, similarly, the court and attorneys would not know.  Only a forensic chemist would be able to establish by way of affidavit evidence that they are one and the same.  That was not done in the extradition bundle and we have submitted to the court that at this late stage the United States government cannot seek yet again to try to bring new evidence.”

A decision on the matter has been reserved for June twenty-eighth.  Khalid Jamil El Turk has been on remand at the Belize Central Prison since October 2012.