BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, Feb. 22.2018 – OFFICIALS at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs tight-lipped on whether or not they received a formal request to have Keith Oneil Braid, who goes by the alias Nile Antonio Christopher, extradited to the United States.
That comes as a provisional request was issued for Braid’s arrest by the United States in January, which resulted in his apprehension by local law enforcement.
Contacted for a confirmation, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kay Bass told SKNVibes News that she is not in a position to comment on that to the media.
Christopher escaped the United States when he was awaiting sentencing for an attempted murder charge.
In November last year, Christopher arrived in St. Kitts on a cruise ship under the alias Nile Antonio and absconded, allowing the vessel to depart without him.
The police in a Communique indicated that he was arrested, formally charged and cautioned on a Provisional Warrant of Apprehension for two counts of Attempted Second-Degree Murder in the state of Florida, U.S.A.
In a recent SKNVibes News interview, Director of Public Prosecution, Valston Graham explained that the extradition request will be first handled by the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
He said that the process has been initiated, noting that there are various ways that the process is started.
First, he explained that the requesting state has to make a request for the extradition of the person, while in some cases the treaty makes provisions for a Provisional Arrest - which allows for his arrest until a extradition request is made.
“So, the person is arrested provisionally, pending the formal extradition request. In this case, once the United States was alerted of his presence here and he was identified; the US sent a provisional request. That provisional request was sent to the Attorney General under the Extradition Treaty. Once that was done, the Arrest Warrant was executed on the 11th of January 2018.”
Against that backdrop, he pointed out that the US Authorities have 45 days to submit their request to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Graham added that before the 45 days has elapsed the US Authorities can request a further 15-day extension.
If no request is made within that timeframe, Braid has to be released.
Questioned on how long the extradition request will last, Graham said the request can last for a very long time – specifically, from months to years.
