US asks Suriname for help in Roger Khan case
By Indra Jeet Mistry, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative
Stabroek News
December 9, 2006
The US government has asked Suriname for legal aid in the drug case against, businessman, Shaheed Roger Khan, a report in the de Ware Tijd (dWT) newspaper says.
Khan, who is currently before a New York court charged with conspiracy to import cocaine into the US, was arrested in Suriname in June along with three of his bodyguard and five Surinamese. Suriname police had snared them in a huge drug bust, which netted some 213 kilos of cocaine. Khan and his bodyguard, Sean Belfield, Paul Rodrigues and Lloyd Roberts had fled from local police during an intense campaign by the joint services to recover the army's stolen AK-47 rifles.
Suriname authorities had initially held the Guyanese in relation to possession and trafficking in narcotics and being part of a criminal organization. They were however all freed and Khan was deported first to Guyana via Trinidad and Tobago where he was seized by US officials and taken to New York. His bodyguards were only recently released from Suriname jails.
DWT said in its report yesterday that the Public Prosecutor in Brooklyn, New York is requesting proof and information gathered in Suriname when Khan was arrested. Suriname Justice Minister, Chandrikapersad Santokhi confirmed to dWT that he indeed received a legal aid request on Thursday. He said he sent it to the Prosecutor General, Subhas Punwasi who is in charge of such matters.
Only recently Punwasi was reported as saying that he regretted that the Guyanese were released without being tried. He said that investigators could not prove their involvement in any criminal acts within the five months they were held in Suriname.
Court documents seen by this newspaper revealed that the US government intends to lay additional charges against Khan within 45-60 days.
Khan made a court appearance on Wednesday in New York and Judge Dora Lizette Irizarry told his lawyers that it was completely irrelevant for them to make an issue about the manner in which he (Khan) was taken to the US.
The judge also noted, according to reports from New York, that she was prepared to go ahead with the case and as such ruled against a request the defence had earlier made calling for three US officials to be subpoenaed for the bail hearing. Khan's next court hearing is on January 4 during which time the judge will entertain a bail hearing.