The case of Indian fugitive Mehul Choksi is attracting a lot of regional attention by the day. However, PM Roosevelt Skerrit has vowed that the constitutional rights of the Antiguan citizen will be respected by the authorities. He said the government of Dominica will not interfere in Choksi’s trial since it is already before the courts.
“The matter with this Indian citizen is before the courts, the courts will decide what happens to the gentleman and we will allow the court process to go through, I do not like to get involve by making public statements in these matters,” Skerrit said. “His rights will be respected as has been done thus far and let the court decide what will happen.”
But Choksi’s wife, Priti, said the wealthy diamond trader is an Antiguan citizen and must be returned to Antigua and Barbuda even though his life is at risk everywhere. She said nothing untoward must happen to her husband even with the many threats against his life. She noted that in the event that anything unpleasant happens to her husband in the Caribbean, then this would be a travesty of justice.
According to Priti, if her husband who holds an Antiguan citizenship is denied his constitutional human rights in the country, then holding citizenships in Caribbean nations mean nothing to all passport holders. While insisting that her husband should be returned to Antigua, Priti said she and her family trust the integrity of the courts in Dominica to do the right thing.
Meanwhile, opposition leader Lennox Linton said the government of Dominica is not publicizing the events surrounding Choksi’s arrest and eventual arraignment in court. He said the DLP administration is tight-lipped over the Indian fugitive’s affair and must have been complicit in his abduction and proposed plan to repatriate him to India where he will be facing charges for alleged bank fraud, money laundering, and financial corruption among others.
Antiguan PM Gaston Browne is also not happy that the Dominican government is keeping Choksi’s case under wraps, and noted that he is Dominica’s problem so long he remains in Dominica.
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