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| St Lucia Police Commissioner Ausbert Regis | |
CASTRIES, St Lucia, November 12, 2008 - Government and law enforcement officials in St Lucia are warning locals who commit crimes abroad, that the island will not be used as a safe haven, as authorities transferred three St Lucian men to Martinique where they are accused of committing a string of crimes.
Minister for Home Affairs and National Security Guy Mayers and Police Commissioner Ausbert Regis sent the message as Roger Hilaire, Roger Avril, and Danny Joseph - three of four men accused of crimes including rape and murder in the French dependent territory - were placed into the custody of officials there. The fourth man had escaped custody but was recently recaptured by St Lucian police and is awaiting the same fate.
"They went through a process where the warrants were in fact endorsed by local magistrates and a 15-day period was allowed to facilitate appeals. That fifteen-day period has expired, and so we got the necessary documents to have them surrendered to the French authorities. They were transferred by means of the necessary paperwork," said Police Commissioner Regis.
The absence of an Extradition Treaty between the two countries was of grave concern to French authorities, but the St Lucia government was able to use existing legislation to accomplish the transfer.
Minister Mayers expressed satisfaction with the process.
"We were able to use the Backing of Warrant Act, which had been passed in the House of Assembly since 2004 but had not yet been enacted. The Attorney General's office did the necessary paperwork and publication of the Act in the Gazette and we were then able to use that to apprehend those individuals based on the warrants that had been issued by the French Authorities," he said.
The Backing of Warrant Act allows Saint Lucian authorities to endorse warrants issued by other countries for suspects who flee to the island.
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