The UK Metropolitan Police, popularly known as Scotland Yard, has taken an interest in Mehul Choksi’s case. The UK government became interested in the case after Choksi’s UK lawyer, Michael Polak, reported the case of kidnapping upheld by his client. A spokesman for Scotland Yard said the UK government is treating the case as a war crime and as crime against humanity.
Inside sources said Polak met with Antigua detectives and has obtained evidence that four UK persons were possibly involved in the kidnapping plot that brought Choksi from Antigua to Dominica. Based on this and other considerations, Polak has reached out to CARICOM to make its stand known on the matter since it will rub off negatively on the organization if they remain taciturn and complicit.
Polak said CARICOM secretary-general, Irwin Larocque, must make a statement on the Choksi’s case.
But Dominica PM Roosevelt Skerrit said his government should not be roped into the case since it has nothing to do with Choksi’s arrest and alleged kidnap. He made nonsense of the conspiracy theory that Dominica is colluding with Antigua to repatriate Choksi back to India where he is accused of money laundering and bank fraud.
That’s total nonsense. We don’t get ourselves involved in those kinds of activities [or] those kinds of practices, not at all. That is absurd. We reject this and it is unfortunate that anybody would want to propagate this unsubstantiated claim by a gentleman who is before the court… This is not true at all.
Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of Dominica
He said he chose not to comment on the case when it first started because he wanted the courts to fully investigate and prosecute the matter. He noted that his administration is very neutral over the case and that the government will abide with whatever judgement the court passes on Choksi who is charged with illegal entry into Dominica.
Skerrit disagrees with critics who said the government should have returned the Indian fugitive to Antigua when he first stepped into Dominica, saying it is the government’s responsibility to arraign someone who is running away from the law in another country. He cited the case of Kennison Charles of Grand Bay, who is wanted in the United States Virgin Islands for killing another Dominican in St. Thomas.
He said the Dominican government arrested Charles and holds him in custody to await his extradition to the USVI to answer charges of murder – even though he is a Dominican who ought to be protected in his home country. He emphasized that the law is no respecter of persons and Choksi should face legal processes in the courts of Dominica even if he has committed atrocities in Antigua and India.
All of us are subjected to the laws irrespective of our position or how much money we may have or how much we don’t have. And I believe that in this circumstance… Dominica has a right and obligation to apprehend this person and bring the person before the courts and let the courts determine.
Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of Dominica
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