Defence asks court to review decision on arrest testimony
Roger Khan drug case
Stabroek News
December 28, 2006
Roger Khan's defence has asked a New York District Court to reconsider a decision to exclude testimony about his apprehension for his next bail hearing, saying US intervention forced his flight from Guyana and resulted in his arrest in Suriname.
In a letter to US District Court Judge Dora L. Irizarry, Robert Simels argues that despite the claims of the US government, Khan fled after his life was placed in jeopardy when the local police issued a wanted bulletin for him. "…In Guyana, [it] was tantamount to dispatching a death squad for Mr Khan's execution," he said in the letter dated December 26.
Khan is currently before a New York Court charged with conspiracy to import cocaine into the US. The US government has described him as the leader of a cocaine trafficking organization based in Georgetown and as one of the primary controllers of cocaine flowing out of Guyana. The next hearing for bail is scheduled for January 4 and Khan's lawyers have asked the court to direct the government to allow US Embassy No.2 Michael Thomas and DEA Agent Gary Tuggle to testify. In denying an earlier defence request to subpoena Thomas and Tuggle, Judge Irizarry had ruled that the issue of how Khan was transported to the US had no relevance to the question of bail.
However, Simels noted that at the conclusion of the December 6 conference, the US government advised the court that Khan "…was found after there was an arrest warrant for him. Also, he was wanted in Guyana on separate things and went on the lam and was found in Suriname when he was arrested by Surinamese law enforcement." In response, the Court also noted that "the fact that he may have had another arrest somewhere else for drugs, that he may be wanted by yet another jurisdiction may be relevant as well with respect to detention…."
As a result, Simels contends that both statements support Khan's claims that the testimony of Thomas and Tuggle is relevant to the issues to be determined. He points out that although the court ruled that their testimony was immaterial, the government's position confirms their relevancy to a hearing to establish the circumstances of Khan's flight from Guyana. According to him, Khan fled Guyana "not because he was facing charges, but because the United States' disclosure of the Felix tape placed his life in jeopardy. The defence also argued that the charges on which Mr. Khan was arrested in Suriname were a product of United States intervention, not because he was involved or charged with any illegal conduct in Guyana or Suriname."
Simels argued that after Khan met with US officials on March 6 in Georgetown, the Americans turned over a tape of a recorded conversation between then Commissioner of Police Winston Felix and a third party that had been provided to them by Khan. He says after the disclosure of the tape to Felix, the Guyanese police, not surprisingly, issued a wanted bulletin. On March 29, police issued wanted bulletins for Khan, Paul Rodrigues, Ricardo Rod-rigues and Gerald Pereira in connection with investigations into the discovery of guns, ammunition, drugs and other illegal items during a search ten days earlier. The search was part of joint services raids in an attempt to recover the 30 AK 47s that disappeared from Camp Ayanganna. A number of businesses and buildings connected to businessman Khan had been searched. Simels says the issuance of bulletins in Guyana was the same as dispatching a death squad and he says it was this circumstance that "necessitated" Khan's departure for Suriname. He emphasises that contrary to the US government's representations, there were no criminal charges filed or pending against Khan at the time he left Guyana.
The lawyer also says that after arriving in Suriname, Khan and three others - Paul Rodrigues, Sean Belfield and Lloyd Roberts - were detained for questioning in connection with a narcotics transaction. But he was released after authorities concluded that there was no basis for charges against him. The three others were kept in custody until they were released recently and deported to Guyana.
Consequently, Simels maintains that Thomas and Tuggle are first-hand witnesses to the series of events that led to Khan's departure from Guyana. In this regard, he says their anticipated testimony is directly relevant to the issues to be determined by the Court at the detention hearing, including Khan's propensity as a flight risk and a danger to the community as claimed by the US government. Khan's lawyers have offered to post bail of US$3M secured by property in addition to an undertaking to foot the costs for electronic monitoring and or the alternative expense of a private security firm to monitor his presence in a relative's home in Long Island if he was admitted to bail.