High Court Judge Bernie Stephenson has ruled that Indian fugitive Mehul Choksi be allowed to stay temporarily in Dominica with full access to his lawyers. Choksi is wanted by the Indian government for bribery and corruption as well as money laundering. He is a citizen of Antigua and Barbuda but Antigua’s PM Gaston Browne wants him repatriated to India instead of being returned to Antigua.
His attorneys – Wayne Norde, Julien Prevost, Cara Shillingford-Marsh and Wayne Benjamin Marsh – filed a motion to challenge his forceful repatriation from the country and alleged that Choksi appeared to have been tortured by his kidnappers and the Dominican police. Based on their writ of habeas corpus application, Justice Stephenson ruled that the government cannot remove the fugitive from the country until the determination of the motion filed by his attorneys.
Stephenson said the motion will be heard on Friday, May 28 at 9 a.m.
But in a swift turn of events, Choksi said he did not flee from Antigua where he has been living with his family for some years, and that he was actually abducted and forced into a boat sailing for Dominica. He told his Dominican lawyers that he was on his way to a dinner on Sunday evening when men dressed in blue swooped on him and placed a bag over his head.
He said they sounded like Indians and that Antiguan police officers were also there. He said he was forced into a boat bearing a Dominican flag and bound for Dominica. He said his kidnappers beat him and shocked his eye with an electrical device. Attorney Wayne Marsh said there were visible marks on his face and body to indicate that he must have been manhandled by the authorities.
Marsh said attorneys were not able to see Choksi at the CID for several days but were eventually able to meet with him. He said the Antiguan citizen and Indian fugitive appeared weak and beaten when he saw him at police headquarters.
“His left eye was swollen and his face was severely bruised,” he said. “He appeared weak and feeble and there were several marks on his body. He could barely stand from the mattress on the ground.”
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