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Jack Warner.

Former FIFA vice president and government minister Jack Warner has lost his challenge to his extradition to the US  to face a barrage of fraud-related charges.

On Thursday, five Privy Council judges – Lords Hodge, Briggs, Hamblem, Burrows, and Sir Declan Morgan – delivered their decision on Warner’s challenge.

The Privy Council held the request for Warner’s extradition was not unfair.

He challenged the process by which the extradition proceedings against him were carried out and seeks to quash the authority to proceed (ATP) signed by the Attorney General in September 2015. This was after the US asked for the former football jefe to be extradited to face some 29 charges of fraud, corruption and money laundering. The request was made on July 24, 2015.

Extradition proceedings at the magistrates’ court in Trinidad had been stayed pending his legal challenges.

After the 2015 general election, then-attorney general Faris Al-Rawi offered to allow Warner to make representations, but only on the condition the deadline for receipt of the ATP would be extended with his consent.

Warner refused to agree to the condition. His attorneys argued he was not given sufficient time to make representations, nor was he given disclosures of any evidence the US intended to use to secure his extradition.

The ATP gave the magistrate the green light to begin committal proceedings.

The Privy Council said, “…The offer by the new Attorney General was inevitably subject to agreeing a fresh timetable with the court. It was the appellant’s choice to decline that opportunity. The Attorney General did not act unfairly.”

Warner had also challenged the legality of the Extradition (Commonwealth and Foreign Territories) Act, and the treaty signed between this country and the US.

Warner surrendered to Fraud Squad officers on May 27, 2015, after learning of a provisional warrant for his arrest.

After the ATP was signed giving the go-ahead for extradition proceedings to start, FIFA banned Warner from all football activities for life.

He and 13 other FIFA officials were indicted in the US. Warner was also head of Concacaf.

In the US charge sheet against him, Warner is accused of racketeering, wire fraud, money laundering, and bribery; and allegedly, from the early 1990s, he “began to leverage his influence and exploit his official positions for personal gain.”

He also allegedly accepted a million-dollar bribe from South African officials in return for voting to award them the 2010 World Cup, and allegedly bribed officials with envelopes of cash.

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Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell gives the feature address during the Trinidad And Tobago Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA) president’s dinner and awards at the Hyatt Regency Ballroom, Port of Spain. Photo by Ayanna Kinsale

GRENADA Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell says he is happy that Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada are making significant progress in resuming importing and exporting honey between the two countries.

He was giving the feature address at the TT Manufacturers Association’s (TTMA) 2022 awards ceremony on Tuesday night at the Hyatt Regency, Port of Spain.

Minister of Trade and Industry Paula Gopee Scoon, left, and president of the Trinidad And Tobago Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA) Tricia Coosal presents Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell with a painting done by artist Kibwe Loreilhe during the (TTMA) president’s dinner and awards at the Hyatt Regency Ballroom, Port of Spain. Photo by Ayanna Kinsale

Speaking before him, Trade Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon said throughout her years in the ministry, one of the main topics she had to deal with at COTED (Council for Trade and Economic Development) was “the issue of honey.

“And I’m sure most of you know that.”

But she said that, for the first time, she will be “proudly going to COTED with good news about allowing the transshipment of honey, and working our way towards the imports of honey as well from the rest of the region.

“That’s good news!”

President of the Trinidad And Tobago Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA) Tricia Coosal, left, takes a photo with, from left, Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs Amery Browne, Chief Secretary Farley Augustine, and Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell at the (TTMA) president’s dinner and awards at the Hyatt Regency Ballroom, Port of Spain. Photo by Ayanna Kinsale

The Beekeeping and Bee Products Act prohibits the import and export and bees, bee supplies and bee products in section 9(b).

In 2018, then minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries Clarence Rambharat said work was under way on removing these bans for Grenada, Guyana and possibly other Caricom countries.

Dickon teased that when he arrived in Trinidad and Tobago, he asked TTMA president Tricia Coosal for tea with “a little bit of honey” at the airport.

“And there was none available,” he said laughingly.

Port of Spain Mayor Joel Martinez demonstrates to Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell how the steelpan is played at the Trinidad And Tobago Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA) president’s dinner and awards at the Hyatt Regency Ballroom, Port of Spain. Prime Minister Mitchell received a painting done by artist Kibwe Loreilhe from the TTMA as a token. Photo by Ayanna Kinsale

He said on returning to Grenada, he will notify the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Joseph Andall of what Gopee-Scoon said.

“I’m happy that we are making progress, and I think, from a symbolic point of view, it’s one of the issues that I think, once resolved, will help to further sweeten the relationship between TT and Grenada.”

Grenada has won several international awards for its honey.

President of the Trinidad And Tobago Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA) Tricia Coosal, left, speaks with, from left, Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs Amery Browne, Chief Secretary Farley Augustine, and Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell at the (TTMA) president’s dinner and awards at the Hyatt Regency Ballroom, Port of Spain. Photo by Ayanna Kinsale

Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell and Chief Secretary Farley Augustine speak during the Trinidad And Tobago Manufacturers’ Association (TTMA) president’s dinner and awards at the Hyatt Regency Ballroom, Port of Spain. Photo by Ayanna Kinsale

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European Ambassador to Guyana, Rene van Nes has revealed that works are progressing on the establishment of an EU-Guyana Chamber of Commerce as he expressed hopes to see increased private sector cooperation between Guyana and European countries.

“Guyana is a country of endless opportunities now and therefore I really want to bring more EU private sector to the country,” he said during a reception hosted by the EU on Wednesday evening.

In this regard, he announced that the EU-Guyana Chamber of Commerce should be established soon.

“We are really making good progress on establishing an EU-Guyana Chamber of Commerce…I have that ambition to do that. It should not be too long. I want to have a Chamber that provides quality support both to European countries that want to come here and Guyanese companies that have an interest in working with the EU,” he noted.

“Due to our shared values and our common interests and objectives for smarter and a greener and more inclusive economy, I think the EU is the natural partner for Guyana.”

“Guyana is one of the most exciting places to be and to do business in and I will pass that message loud and clear to…to everyone in Europe who still has not get that message,” the diplomat noted.

Guyana already has Chambers of Commerce with the USA and Canada. Talks are also ongoing regarding the establishment of a Guyana-UK Chamber of Commerce.

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Sacha Daunar, qui souffrait d’une otite, était rentré à Saint-Malo dès le départ  de la Route du Rhum, vient d’abandonner sa poursuite de la traversée. Une décision prise “après avis médical”, selon les organisateurs.

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