PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – Former government minister Jack Warner’s extradition proceedings took another turn when the U.S. government attempted to intervene in his judicial review lawsuit challenging Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi’s decision to sign off on its request to have him extradited to face charges in the ongoing FIFA bribery scandal.
During a status hearing in Port-of-Spain High Court, attorney Vanessa Gopaul, who is representing the U.S., appeared in court and indicated her client intended to apply to be joined as an interested party.
Her statement was immediately opposed by Warner’s lawyer Fyard Hosein, SC, who questioned the reason for the country’s attempt to enter the case.
“It (the U.S.) is partisan in its approach. They want to get Warner there in the shortest possible time,” Hosein said.
Stating that Hosein will be able to make extensive submissions on the issue at a later date, Justice James Aboud then instructed Gopaul to file her client’s application by March 18. Hosein also has until that date to file an application to adduce expert testimony in the case.
Warner, in his claim, is questioning the procedure adopted by the Office of the Attorney General in signing off on the U.S.’s request for his extradition made in May, last year, at the end of the U.S. Department of Justice’s investigation into FIFA. He faces fraud and money-laundering charges related to his two decades as a vice-president of world football’s governing body.