LONDON: Abraaj Group founder and ex-CEO Arif Naqvi will not obtain a good trial within the United States, a specialist witness to the courtroom within the Pakistan enterprise magnate’s extradition listening to on Monday.
Expert witness and lawyer Michael Baldassare instructed the Westminster Magistrates’ Court Naqvi can be denied fundamental human rights if extradited to the United States due to “inhumane prison conditions”.
District Judge Emma Arbuthnot was listening to the case.
Baldassare instructed the courtroom that the state of affairs on the Essex County Correctional Facility (ECCF) is “chaos”.
Earlier, Naqvi’s lawyer Barrister Hugo Keith had objected to the circumstances on the Metropolitan Correctional Facility (MCC) in Manhattan and Metropolitan Detention Centre (MDC) in Brooklyn.
On Monday, the courtroom heard that experiences had been solely commissioned to learn the way dangerous these prisons are after “catastrophic” occasions corresponding to Jeffrey Epstein’s dying on the MCC and an influence breakdown on the MDC which resulted in prisoners experiencing subhuman circumstances, Geo News reported.
It was mentioned that though a prisoner had died by suicide on the ECCF final 12 months, no investigation has been made public.
The courtroom heard that the ECCF is in New Jersey which is 2 bridges and a tunnel away – not less than an hour-long drive each methods from the SDNY courthouse.
Expert witness Baldassare instructed the courtroom that Naqvi can be unable to get bail within the US as a result of the system is weighed in opposition to him as he isn’t a US citizen
Baldassare mentioned: “Nobody wants to go to Essex County. People avoid it as much as they can.”
Mark Summers QC, who’s representing the US, argued the timing is inaccurate.
Baldassare famous it might be very tough for Naqvi to seek the advice of together with his legal professionals throughout the trial and that it’s in itself a breach of his proper to a good trial.
Originally from Karachi, businessman Naqvi has argued earlier than the extradition decide on the Westminster Magistrates’ that the USA shouldn’t be allowed to extradite him for trial in relation to the collapse of the Abraaj Group.
Naqvi was arrested in London in April 2019 on the request of US. He faces allegations of money-laundering, racketeering and fraud. The Pakistani nationwide faces near 300 years in jail on 16 counts if extradited to the US.
