THE defence attorneys for Troy Anthony Thomas, who is wanted in the United States (US) in connection with a 2011 murder, on Friday filed a motion in the High Court to stop processing of the extradition matter, which is currently being heard at the Georgetown Magistrates’ Court.

The attorneys, Nigel Hughes, Bernard DaSilva and Darren Wade on Friday filed the application at the High Court, where it is fixed to be heard before Justice Jo-Ann Barlow on April 13 at 10:30hrs.

The lawyers made an application for a declaration that Magistrate Sherdel Isaacs-Marcus possesses no authority in law or otherwise to enforce the provision of the treaty between the United Kingdom and the United States of America for the mutual extradition of fugitive criminals signed on December 22, 1931.
Additionally, a conservatory order restraining the Minister of Public Security, Khemraj Ramjattan, and/ or the Magistrate Isaacs-Marcus from proceeding with any processing leading to and which may result in the extradition of the applicant from Guyana (Thomas).
The application further listed a declaration that the extradition proceedings conducted by the magistrate in relation to the applicant was a breach of his fundamental protected rights as guaranteed by article 139 and 1474 of the Constitution of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana.

The basis of the application made by the lawyer is that the magistrate, being a creature of statute, is not empowered to interpret and or apply the provisions of a treaty, which had not been incorporated into the provision of the domestic laws of Guyana.
The matter, before Magistrate Isaacs is currently ongoing at the Providence Magistrates Court. This has been adjourned to April 11.

Thomas, 31, of South Ozone Park, Queens, New York, was nabbed by police during an operation on Wednesday, March 14; the operation had commenced since January 31, 2018. According to reports, on December 11, 2011, 20-year-old Keith Frank was shot once in the torso in a flash of violence outside a South Richmond Hill party. Frank, who moved to Queens from Guyana when he was 12, died exactly two months before his 21st birthday.
The New York Police Department (NYPD) began looking for Thomas in connection with the shooting. However, within hours he allegedly fled the jurisdiction and crossed over to Canada from New York State.

In Canada, he is said to have used travel documents belonging to a relative and boarded a Caribbean Airlines flight, arriving in Guyana in the early hours of the morning before the bulletin could reach Interpol (International police).