Toronto ? A Canadian immigration hearing against the security chief to ousted Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide ended dramatically Monday as Oriel Jean was served with an extradition warrant to the U.S.
The warrant is on charges of conspiracy to traffic drugs, said Guidy Mamann, the lawyer who represented Mr. Jean at the immigration tribunal.
?Something stinks,? Mr. Mamann said.
The hearing was terminated because the immigration adjudicator no longer has jurisdiction, Mr. Mamann said.
Just before the hearing was halted, Mr. Mamann told the tribunal that his client had been questioned over the weekend by an agent of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.
The agent wanted information on known drug dealers in Haiti, Mr. Mamann said.
Mr. Jean was threatened with arrest and extradition to the U.S. if he didn’t co-operate, Mr. Mamann said.
?I think the facts of the case speak for themselves,? he said.
Mr. Jean, 39, was detained when he arrived in Toronto last week from the Dominican Republic.
Goudrin Leblanc, lawyer for Citizenship and Immigration Canada, said Mr. Jean has made numerous trips to Canada since 1989.
She cited allegations of links to organized crime and drug trafficking, but provided few other details.
?We feel he would be a danger to the public,? Mr. Leblanc told the detention review hearing.
Mr. Leblanc said Ottawa was preparing a dossier of allegations of crimes Jean committed against humanity in his position in Haiti.
Mr. Mamann portrayed his client as little more than a bodyguard to Mr. Aristide.
Many of Mr. Jean’s trips to Canada were to seek medical advice for his knees, which suffered ligament damage, Mr. Mamann said.
Mr. Jean’s wife Bettina was detained at the same time as Mr. Jean but was released and was on hand when Mr. Jean, wearing handcuffs and an orange prison jumper, was led away by two plainclothes RCMP officers.
The matter will be turned over to an Ontario Superior Court judge, likely this week, said Mr. Mamann.