Absconding diamantaire Mehul Choksi’s UK-based lawyer has appealed to the Caribbean community to speak out on alleged kidnapping of his client from Antigua to neighbouring Dominica where he is held in custody for illegal entry.
"The kidnapping and rendition of Mr Choksi from Antigua to Dominica has drawn the world's attention to the CARICOM region and we have yet to hear anything from this organisation on this tawdry affair and gross breach of an individual's human rights," said London-based barrister Michael Polak, Director of London-based Justice Abroad.
Polak has written to Caricom, a regional organisation of 15 countries and dependencies in Caribbean region, to take up the issue of Choksi.
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Polak has also approached the Scotland Yard seeking a probe into alleged kidnapping of Choksi.
Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Browne had categorically told the Parliament there last week that he had received no communication from the UK's investigation agency.
"The Secretary-General has been respectfully requested to speak out on this issue and a failure to do may reflect badly upon the CARICOM region as somewhere where the rule of law and due process applies," he said.
The lawyer said that a request for a meeting with Secretary-General of CARICOM, Irwin Larocque, and a public statement from the regional organisation has been made.
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He noted that given that one of CARICOM's missions is to "create a community where every citizen is secure and has the opportunity to realise his or her potential with guaranteed human rights and social justice", the organisation is being urged to speak out and take action in regard to these very worrying events , which have drawn the world's attention to the region.
Choksi, 62, who was arrested in Dominica is in judicial custody for illegal entry and is kept at Dominica China Friendship Hospital because of his poor health as his bail applications have been rejected by the courts there.
Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi have allegedly orchestrated biggest banking scandal of the country to the tune of Rs 13,500 crore and fled the country weeks before the scam came to light.
With PTI inputs
