Email

Print

It is a most unexpected turnaround, and today 7News spoke to his attorney, Anthony Sylvester, who explained the Chief Magistrate's written judgment after months of tedious litigation.

Anthony Sylvester - Attornet for Khaled El Turk
"The decision of the Magistrate is that Mr. El Turk is discharged and he is free to go. The decision was made after consideration of the arguments put forward by both the attorneys for the Government of the United States and Mr. Flores (Senior Counsel) and on behalf of Mr. El Turk. We had argued from the onset that the offences for which Mr. El Turk's extradition was sought was for the importation of pseudoephedrine and conspiracy to import pseudoephedrine in the United States - those were not offences which are punishable in Belize. You may also recall that it was conceded by the representative by the United States government and that in fact is not the case, so during the course of the extradition proceedings - they altered their argument to say that the request is not solely for importation of pseudoephedrine or the conspiracy to import pseudoephedrine but also respect to the production of meth amphetamine. What was done - we had by way of response indicated that there was no evidence in the extradition bundle that meth amphetamines was a drug which is punishable in the United States by deprivation of liberty - which is an imprisonment of a year or more. Because the Extradition Act requires that for a person to be extradited - the offences for which he is sought - it must be punishable in both countries, both the requesting country which would be the United States and the requested country is Belize - that it's also punishable for more than one year."

So, that's the decision of the Magistrate's Court, Khaled El Turk will not have to continue to face extradition. Quoting from Chief Magistrate Smith's Decision, she said

"Having perused the documents and listened to Counsel on Both sides, it is very clear that the offences do not amount to extraditable offences in Belize."

So, that's a preliminary vindication in the courts of Belize, but where does that leave Khaled El Turk? Well, that's what we asked him today after he was released by the police department. He was very grateful for the opportunity to give his side:

Khaled El Turk - Freed of Extradition Charges
"I'm so happy because I came out of this thing because everything was just like talking and nothing was true. I know myself, I'm an innocent man - I have never done such things, I'm a business man. I came to Belize since 2000 and I do business with Canada and all other countries and I always have a good business. So I came to Belize and I brought a container with me to sell and market the goods, so all of a sudden they stopped by the border and told me that I was wanted by the U.S. I had no knowledge about that and I just came from my country and I passed through France, Mexico and I came to Belize and never anything has happened to me. All of a sudden, I came by the border and someone called them and told them to hold me. I stayed at the prison for 10 months for something I am innocent for, I never did anything wrong. Thank God the chief magistrate - she gave the right decision today. Thank God first of all that I am a free man and everybody knows me and they put me in a bad picture and I proved myself that I am innocent, I never did such a thing - all my business are legit business."

Daniel Ortiz
"Whenever someone is caught up with the U.S. it takes forever for them - if it's ever done and they are acquitted or freed. Tell us what it's like dealing with that situation?"

Khaled El Turk
"Well it's the worst time in my life these past ten months because I've never been in a situation and I don't like being in situation for things I have never done, punished for something I never did. So just because someone gave a statement that they have hate for me then they believe his statement and at the end the truth will appear anyway. This is the worst ten months I have ever passed in my life."

Daniel Ortiz
"Have you ever been caught up by this with any authorities in any of the other countries?"

Khaled El Turk
"Never, I've never been caught up with any country or any kind of crime - I'm a business man and I don't live a life with illegal movements or anything illegal in my activity."

Daniel Ortiz
"Have you ever smuggled pseudoephedrine through Belize to the U.S or any parts of the world?"

Khaled El Turk
"Never happened, never done and will never do."

Daniel Ortiz
"So the DEA and all of their information is completely wrong?"

Khaled El Turk
"If it wasn't wrong I wouldn't be an innocent man or a free man."

Daniel Ortiz
"How do you rebuild your life after going through something like that?"

Khaled El Turk
"Well I will prove my reputation again because a lot of people know me in a lot of countries and I will thank God first of all. I feel like I came back to life again because of ten months ago - it's like it never happened in my life, ever."

El Turk explained to us that his business entails farming, where the crops which are popular with the people of Lebanon are grown in Belize, and he then exports it. He intends to sue the Belizean Government for the destruction of his cargo which was unable to be exported because he was detained. He said that it was GOB's fault that his export ended up spoiling.

But throughout the entire ordeal, El Turk was supported by fellow Lebanese Belizean Amerush "Amir" Zriba. He told us today that he has had to face discrimination, being labeled as a drug dealer affiliating with El Turk, and he wanted to clear his name to the Belizean public.

He also explained that he will sue the Income Tax Department for the seizure of $22,000 dollars. Zriba said that this was half of the money they had set aside for lawyer fees.

Here's how he explained the situation:

Amerush "Amir" Zriba - Khaled El Turk's Friend
"I went down with him - I've never been arrested - my name really went down because I would visit him and sometimes people would look at you and say 'wow you're a drug dealer' and that they don't want to deal with me or they can't help me. I don't need anymore harassment because I get a lot of harassment by myself too just because I was visiting him in jail. I was arrested with him and from the first day they claimed that I had nothing but he had because someone reported. I would appreciate if the income tax would return the money for Khaled El Turk because we do a legit business - we were saving the money for two vehicles that I sold here and we send the money. They give the money here and it was fair exchange, just because it was that time I had to get a lawyer. I have some money that I received from Khaled's family that they sent to me to get a lawyer and the drug unit took the money - it was on behalf of Khaled's family from Lebanon and they sent it to Belize for us to get a lawyer."

We must note that while we were interviewing El Turk and Zriba, there was a pickup truck with civilian license plates which kept circling the area, and which sped off when they realized that we took notice.

El Turk and Zriba suspected that the people driving were police officers. That may be a reasonable conclusion because El Turk isn't completely out of the woods.

By law, the Director of Public Prosecutions can request the material and the judgment from the Chief Magistrate, and she can make an application to reintroduce the matter to the Courts.