PROCESS OF EXTRADITION FOR KNOWLES
PROCEEDING ACCORDING TO LAW
The Minister with responsibility for extradition has responded to published allegations concerning the matter of convicted drug dealer Samuel Knowles.
The Honourable Fred Mitchell rejected the published allegations absolutely and said that the Government of The Bahamas “…does not play when it comes to its international obligations and its obligations under the law of The Bahamas.
“I have checked with those responsible in the Progressive Liberal Party,” said the Minister “and they have assured me and I believe that at no time were funds from Samuel Knowles - whom I do not know - paid to the party for any reason whatsoever. To suggest otherwise is entirely scurrilous.”
“The fact is that the process for the extradition of Samuel Knowles is being followed according to law. The position of the Minister is quasi judicial in nature and any comment on the case would be inappropriate.”
The Minister described as “shameful that such baseless accusations should come from a disgraced and disbarred individual who was himself removed for the misuse of client funds.
“Ordinarily, because of the source of the allegations, one would not dignify them with a response, but left unchallenged it impugns The Bahamas Government and my own integrity by suggesting that as Minister I am not acting according to law because of an improper influence. Such a suggestion is not only untrue, but patently false, defamatory and libellous and all remedies will be pursued for redress. The newspaper that would publish such unsubstantiated allegations is irresponsible in the extreme for purveying incredible information from an incredible source.
“In the face of such an irresponsible publication, it now becomes necessary to put this on the public record.
“Indeed, in their inescapable conclusion that the process of Knowles’ extradition is somehow linked to the politics of this government, the published comments cannot be allowed to stand. I refute them in their disgraceful entirety.”