Barbadian businessman Alex Tasker has been taken into police custody.
Commissioner of Police Richard Boyce confirmed Tasker, the former vice-president at the Insurance Corporation of Barbados (ICBL), was picked up this morning, and they are awaiting word from the United States Government on his status.
This comes a day after the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) turned down Tasker’s application for Special Leave to appeal to that body.
In the judgement, the court which comprised Justice Adrian Saunders, President, and Justices Jacob Wit and Winston Anderson advised that: “Yesterday, the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) refused to grant permission to Alex Tasker from Barbados to appeal an order that he be extradited to the United States of America finding that the local Court of Appeal was right to dismiss his application for leave to appeal.
“When examining the provisions of the Magistrate’s Courts Act and the Extradition Act, the Bench opined that the process to appeal an order of committal was explicit in the latter Act, since it was the specific legislation dedicated to the management of extradition proceedings and it contained a specific procedure for appeal in such proceedings.
“Additionally, the argument that the Court of Appeal had the power to enlarge the time for filing the application for leave to appeal under the Extradition Act was problematic, given that the Act contained no explicit provision for extending the time limits for filing such an application.
As a result, the CCJ determined that there was no arguable case advanced by Mr Tasker which justified the grant of special leave to appeal the Court of Appeal’s decision. On these bases, the application for special leave was dismissed.”
Andrew Pilgrim KC, Douglas Mendes SC and Clay Hackett represented Tasker, while Oliver Thomas, Senior State Counsel; and Alliston Seale, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions; represented the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. (PR/SAT)
