By LAMECH JOHNSON
Tribune Staff Reporter
ljohnson@tribunemedia.net
FIVE men fighting extradition to the United States on drug trafficking charges will have their day in the Supreme Court in January next year.
A status hearing was held yesterday before Senior Justice Stephen Isaacs concerning a challenge to a magistrate’s approval of an extradition request for Austin Knowles, Nathaniel Knowles, Edison Watson, Ian Bethel and Shawn Saunders.
The government gave the go-ahead for the extradition proceedings to commence against the men in February 2003.
Then magistrate Carolita Bethell approved the extradition request in 2004 and committed the men to prison to await extradition. However, they applied for and were granted bail in 2005.
Transcripts of the proceedings had been unavailable since then until yesterday’s hearing, when Senior Justice Isaacs was informed that the record would be made available to all parties shortly.
Lawyers Elliot Lockhart, QC, Osman Johnson and Tai Pinder along with Crown prosecutor Neil Braithwaite agreed to have the matter heard on January 14 and 15, 2016.
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