Businessman Roger Khan's next court date is
to be a short hearing aimed at setting the
stage for his trial which could begin sometime
in early September, his US attorney, John
Bergendahl told Stabroek News yesterday from
New York.
The lawyer said that while another of his
colleagues has had an interview with Khan
since he was captured by the US two weeks ago,
he is yet to see the charge against his client
and as such could not say whether the evidence
against Khan is strong.
The lawyer explained that the August 4
court date is basically a status conference.
He said the court would decide then how long
the case is going to last and glean from both
the prosecution and defence their state
of readiness for the trial. He said that the
court would ask whether the government would
be providing any material evidence and the
number of witnesses among other things.
Bergendahl in a seven-page motion two weeks
ago had approached a New York court asking
that the indictment against Khan be dismissed.
Khan was indicted by a New York Grand Jury in
May this year for conspiracy to import
cocaine. He has since been charged with the
offence, which alleges that between January
2001 and March 2006 he conspired with others
to import cocaine. In his motion Bergendahl
said that the cryptic form
of the indictment puts Khan in the position of
going to trial blind as details of the
conspiracy are undefined. He said there is a
risk that he could then be convicted on the
basis of facts not found by and perhaps not
even presented to the grand jury which
indicted him.
Suriname
Khan and three of his bodyguards were
captured in Suriname
on June 15 during a huge drug bust that netted
some 213 kilos of cocaine. He subsequently
appeared in a Paramaribo Magistrate's court
charged for being part of a criminal
organization, possession and trafficking of
narcotics and possession of firearms. The
charges were however withdrawn to facilitate
Khan's deportation from Suriname and
subsequent apprehension by the US.
Chaos
in Suriname
Parliament
over Khan's deportation
Meanwhile, Khan speaking from his New York
Penitentiary disclosed to one of his attorneys
that following his arrest in Suriname on June
15 he was subjected to a variety of torture
methods including but not limited to physical
beatings and deprivation of food and water. He
said, too, that a hood was placed over his
head for in excess of 36 hours and he was left
without food or water.
Businessman
Roger Khan, said that a hood
was placed over his head for in excess of 36
hours and he was
left without food or water.
Khan said that while in Suriname he
repeatedly requested an attorney, charge
documents and access to the courts. During
interrogation he was presented with a
statement in Dutch, which he refused to sign,
while the beatings
continued unabated until June 30
when he was released from the Santo Boma
prison and deported from Suriname. According
to the businessman on June 30 at approximately
1:30 am, he was handcuffed, shackled and
hooded and then placed in a vehicle. Still
hooded, Khan recalled hearing sounds
consistent with an airport. At this point,
Khan said he spoke to the Commander of the `A
Team' and requested an attorney, paperwork or
documentation for him to appear before a judge
for which he was scheduled that afternoon. He
also demanded to be returned to Guyana. None
of the requests was granted. Khan
said upon making these requests he was told by
the Commander: "We are above the law,
this is a government decision not a court
decision".
Khan said a plane ticket was then thrust
into his hands and he was placed on a Suriname
commercial flight on his way to Trinidad and
Tobago. Khan said that he repeated the
aforementioned requests both on the plane and
at the base of the stairs when the aircraft
landed in Trinidad and Tobago. According to
Khan at the base of the stairs there were US
government officials including members of the
US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Once off the plane in Trinidad Khan said he
was placed in the back of a SUV with DEA
agents on both sides. He said he had
recognized one of the DEA officials from the
Suriname flight. At this point the businessman
said he repeated the requests he had made in
Suriname adding that he was being kidnapped by
the US. He said that in the front seat of the
SUV was a Trinidad official. Khan said he was
then driven to a hangar and presented with
customs forms which he refused to sign. He was
then placed on a private jet with US officials
wherein he repeated his requests for basic due
process as well as protesting his being
kidnapped.
United States Ambassador to Guyana, Roland
Bullen explained in an interview with this
newspaper recently that Khan was not abducted
nor was he rendered. Bullen said US DEA
officials acting on a provisional arrest
warrant which was issued to the Trinidad and
Tobago government, arrested the drug accused.
Khan's local attorney, Glenn Hanoman said that
the Surinamese government should be made to
answer a number of questions in relation to
Khan's alleged deportation.
Hanoman has asked whether someone can be
let onto a commercial aircraft without any
travel document, as was the case with Khan
from Suriname to Trinidad. According to the
attorney, usually when someone is deported,
the deporting country would obtain a temporary
travel document from the deportee's country's
embassy, which would allow him to travel.
Hanoman is asking also whether any arrangement
was made for Khan to travel from Trinidad to
Guyana. He said that the Surinamese
authorities had said that Khan was being
deported to Guyana via Trinidad and Tobago,
but based upon information no arrangement was
in place to facilitate this. Moreover, the
attorney said that the Suriname Airways flight
was not flying to Guyana and if indeed Khan
was destined for Guyana he would have had to
board another plane. Hanoman also clarified
that Khan did not meet US DEA official, Gary
Tuggle in Suriname as he had stated before. He
said two DEA officials had accompanied Khan
from Suriname to Trinidad and Tobago but
Tuggle was not one of them. He said however
that Tuggle was later seen in Trinidad and
Tobago.
