- Norman Grindley/Staff Photographer
A section of the crowd which was barred by police personnel from entering the Corporate Area Criminal Court in Half-Way Tree yesterday, during the appearance of Montego Bay businessmen Leebert Ramcharan and Donovan Williams.
Glenroy Sinclair, Staff Reporter
THE OFFICE of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), has been given until May 3 to produce documents to justify the continued detention of Montego Bay businessmen Leebert Ramcharan and Donovan 'Plucky' Williams, who the United States Government is seeking to extradite on drug-related charges.
The Office of the DPP is representing the requesting state, the U.S. Government.
Senior Resident Magistrate, Martin Gayle, gave the ultimatum yesterday when both men appeared before the Corporate Area Criminal Court at Half-Way Tree, where the extradition hearing is to take place.
The men have been in custody since March 3.
An application for bail for Ramcharan by attorney-at-law Hugh Thompson, who is representing him, was denied by the Magistrate on the ground that Ramcharan was considered a flight risk. Ramcharan and Williams are to return to court on May 3.
OPERATION
Reports are that on the morning of March 3, a police team, assisted by US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agents, raided Ramcharan's house at Spring Farm, Montego Bay, and took him into custody. Williams was arrested during a similar operation.
Both men were flown to Kingston where officers from the Police Narcotics Division questioned them and detained them on extradition warrants.
The police said then that the two men were wanted in the United States for trial on major drug-related charges.
Yesterday the precinct of the Half-Way Tree Court took on the appearance of a militarised zone, with helicopter hovering overhead and scores of heavily-armed police on guard at the courthouse, paying particular attention to the entrances to the courtyard and the building.
A senior court official said the new security arrangements were put in place because of "the high-risk nature of the individuals attending court." He said the arrangements would be put into effect each time the two men were taken to court.
