He skipped town before he went on trial but the Director of Public Prosecutions
wants to try Hassan El-Sayed, whether he is here or not. El-Sayed is accused
of forging more than one hundred passport documents. He was charged along with
Gabby Affif but he skipped town last year and his $200,000 bail was forfeited
in October.
This morning DPP Kirk Anderson asked Justice Adolph Lucas to allow the case
to proceed against El-Sayed in absentia. The problem is that before fleeing,
El-Sayed never entered a plea. His lawyers senior counsel Edwin Flowers and
Michel Chebat argued that because El-Sayed made no plea, he can't be tried in
absentia. Anderson disagrees. He argued that El-Sayed voluntarily left the country.
Lucas will rule next Friday. The passport scandal broke in July 2002. The only
person convicted was Therese Cabral who convicted and fined $11,000 for eleven
counts of forgery. Next Friday Justice Lucas will also finally set a date for
trial. It promises to be long as 34 witnesses are expected to be called.
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