Thursday, July 13, 2006

by Ivan Cairo
Caribbean Net News Suriname Correspondent
Email: ivan@caribbeannetnews.com

PARAMARIBO, Suriname: A government official in Suriname has categorically denied that the suspected Guyanese drugs lord Shaheed ‘Roger’ Khan was beaten by police after his arrest in Paramaribo three weeks ago.

Khan, who was subsequentlyexpelled from Sriname, has meanwhile landed in a Brooklyn jail on drugs charges, and his lawyers on several occasions have claimed that he was brutally beaten.

“We did not beat Mr. Khan”, Suriname justice minister Chandrikapersad Santokhi told local journalists Monday. “But when the Police SWAT Team comes to arrest a suspect that is deemed dangerous, they will handle you very rough,” said the minister.

Over the weekend Assistant-Prosecutor, Garcia Paragsing has also denied that Khan was beaten after his arrest. Khan was arraigned before Paragsing, who said that the then suspect told of bruises at the body, results of the rough treatment he received during his arrest. According to the prosecutor he didn’t mention any beating or ill-treatment during his incarceration.

Khan’s lawyers in the United States of America, Guyana and Suriname, however allege that their client was held and physically abused. Over the past three weeks there have been conflicting reports in the media regarding Khan’s arrest and eventual expulsion.

Meanwhile Guyanese government officials have indicated that Georgetown would seek clarification from the Suriname authorities surrounding the expulsion of Shaheed Khan on June 29. At a press briefing in Georgetown, cabinet secretary, Roger Luncheon, said last week that confirmed details are that Khan was expelled and there are ongoing legal efforts in Guyana to find out exactly what transpired.

Justice Minister Santokhi told reporters that he is prepared to inform Khan’s lawyers and the Guyanese authorities about what had transpired if they need more information.

“What the lawyers in Miami are saying I have already heard from the attorneys in Guyana and Suriname when he (Khan) was being expelled. Shortly thereafter I heard the same allegations from his Trinidadian lawyers. The lawyers are doing their job and I hope they do it correctly,” said the minister.

Regarding the alleged police beating, Santokhi stated, that there are reports of all the police actions. Santokhi: “If they want clarification, they should ask for the information in Suriname through the customary procedures”.

“We did not beat Mr Khan”, the minister reiterated, adding that the Guyanese businessman met with his lawyers while officials from the Guyanese embassy has also visited him in jail. “He was arrested in accordance with the rule of law in Suriname and he was expelled in conformity with the legal rule in Suriname,” the official further added.

Khan, along with three fellow countrymen and eight Surinamese nationals was arrested in Paramaribo on June 15 in a sting operation that netted 213 kilos of cocaine. Washington was seeking his extradition but, before a formal extradition request was made by the US authorities, he was expelled by Suriname because he entered the country illegally.

On arrival in Trinidad and Tobago en route to his homeland Guyana, he was denied entry in Trinidad since he did not have travel documents and subsequently handed over to US Justice Department officials who were waiting for him in Port of Spain. Khan, who was then flown to the US and taken to a Brooklyn, New York, jail where he is awaiting trial on drug trafficking charges.

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